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38th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 1494-1498, SERENDI-PV project is addressing some of the main concerns which would enable the increase in the penetration of PV generated power on to the European grids. On the one hand the project will address a reduction of the parameters which have the strongest influence on the risk perception for new investments in the sector in order to reduce the Levelized Cost of Energy, mainly associated with the new PV technologies such as bifacial, floating PV and building integrated PV: modelling (better energy yield assessments), faults diagnostics (increase the performance of PV systems), in-field quality control (better reliability), and forecasting. Special focus will be paid on issues that may occur to the PV plants, such as soiling (dust), snow and degradation over the years. On the other hand, the technical challenges and opportunities that will come with the increase of the penetration in the grids, such as the potential of PV to offer ancillary services, etc. will be assessed. Short-term forecasting and nowcasting fleets of distributed PV systems as a whole (aggregation) instead of PV systems alone will also play a key role in higher PV penetration and will be investigated in the project.

38th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 1601-1607, Green hydrogen will be an essential part of the future 100% sustainable energy and industry system. Up to one third of the required solar and wind electricity would eventually be used for water electrolysis to produce hydrogen, increasing the cumulative electrolyser capacity to about 17 TWel by 2050. Key method applied in this research are a learning curve approach for the key technologies, i.e. solar photovoltaic (PV) and water electrolysers, and levelised cost of hydrogen (LCOH). Sensitivities for the hydrogen demand and various input parameters are considered. Electrolyser capital expenditure (CAPEX) for a large utility-scale system is expected to decrease from current 400 €/kWel to 240 €/kWel by 2030 and to 80 €/kWel by 2050. With the continuing solar PV cost decrease, this will lead to an LCOH decrease in Europe from current 47-81 €/MWhH2,LHV (1.6-2.7 €/kgH2) to 31-54 €/MWhH2,LHV (1.0-1.8 €/kgH2) by 2030 and 16-27 €/MWhH2,LHV (0.5-0.9 €/kgH2) by 2050, depending on the location. The share of PV electricity cost in the LCOH will increase from the current 63% to 74% by 2050.

37th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 2046-2049, Solar photovoltaics (PV) is already the cheapest form of new electricity generation almost all over the world. PV system prices are still expected to decrease by about 60% from 2020 to 2050. PV system and module price reduction is usually projected by applying historical learning rates (LR) on the main cost components. In this study, a detailed bottom-up analysis showed that the future PV module LR is likely to be close to the long-term historical average of 23.5% whereas it has been about 40% for the past decade. Module and cell efficiency is by far the most important cost component and it will cover about half of the future price reduction. Efficiency improvement will also decrease Balance of System (BoS) cost, Operational Expenditure (OPEX) and Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE).

36th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 1937-1949, Solar photovoltaics (PV) is already the cheapest form of electricity generation in many countries and market segments. Market prices of PV modules and systems have developed so fast that it is difficult to find reliable up to date public data on real PV capital (CAPEX) and operational expenditures (OPEX) on which to base the levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) calculations. This paper projects the future utility-scale PV LCOE until 2050 in several European countries. It uses the most recent and best available public input data for the PV LCOE calculations and future projections. Utility-scale PV LCOE in 2019 in Europe with 7% nominal Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) ranges from 24 €/MWh in Malaga to 42 €/MWh in Helsinki. This is remarkable since the average electricity day-ahead market price in Finland was 47 €/MWh and in Spain 57 €/MWh in 2018. This means that PV is already cheaper than average spot market electricity all over Europe. By 2030, PV LCOE will range from 14 €/MWh in Malaga to 24 €/MWh in Helsinki with 7% nominal WACC. This range will be 9-15 €/MWh by 2050, making PV clearly the cheapest form of electricity generation everywhere. Sensitivity analysis shows that apart from location, WACC is the most important input parameter in the calculation of PV LCOE. Increasing nominal WACC from 2% to 10% will double the LCOE. Changes in PV CAPEX and OPEX, learning rates or market volume growth scenarios have a relatively smaller impact on future PV LCOE.

Building-Integrated PhotoVoltaic (BIPV) has the potential to significantly contribute to the achievement of the demanding energy efficiency targets set by the EU. However, its market uptake has been hindered in the past years by the difficulties of the industry in providing holistic solutions complying with key demands from decision makers and end-users. Practically, among the most important technological challenges toward energy-efficient buildings are twofold: (i) bioclimatic design, considering eco-friendly sources as well as renewable and durable materials, and (ii) Building Information Modelling (BIM) methodology for the whole architecture, engineering and construction (AEC), involving design, production and process innovation respectively. The fragmentation of the value chain, especially in BIPV where building and electro-technical sectors need to work in a coordinated way, is a real threat to the competitiveness of the sector. In fact, a considerable share of cost for BIPV systems is not only related to the product (module, BOS, etc.), manufacturing and operation but also to inefficiencies along some project stages. So far, BIPV is still not supported by a completely digitized process which could ensure clear structures, efficient processes, lower costs, less time and higher quality across the entire lifecycle. Overcoming these challenges can be achieved by the implementation of BIM into the BIPV value-chain, in order to introduce an integrated process supported by digital and interoperable environments connected, from pre-design to manufacturing, as a key to address growing technical complexity and manufacturing flexibility. Digitalization can overcome the construction processes fragmentation and communication problems between stakeholders, to reduce on-site time for installation and improve building affordability throughout its lifecycle. Within this context, two European H2020 projects, PVSITES (www.pvsites.eu) and BIPVBOOST (www.bipvboost.eu), address the need for a software solution within a digital environment for the joint modelling, performance simulation and information management of BIPV and building energy systems.

35th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 2122-2125, In the changing electricity markets in Europe emphasis is put by the European Commission on enlarging the role of prosumers, i.e. consumers that also generate electricity using photovoltaics (PV). The aim of the recently started PV-Prosumers4Grid project is to develop and implement innovative self-consumption and aggregation concepts and business models for PV prosumers that will help integrating sustainable and competitive electricity from PV in the electricity system. This paper presents the concepts of prosumerism, and identifies three different PV prosumers options based on system boundaries: group 1, single direct use; group 2, local collective use; group 3, district power model. A country analysis has been made showing that prosumption in Europe is legally feasible for all countries for single direct use, while this is not the case for collective use, either local or in a district. Finally, a cash-flow model has been developed that allows stakeholders in all countries to perform a cost-benefit analysis taking into account energy demand and sources (heatpump, EV) and PV electricity generation.

35th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 1452-1457, Despite their yet low market penetration, building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) systems are expected to play a relevant role in the achievement of Nearly-Zero Energy Buildings (NZEBs) related targets. One of the main reasons explaining the low market deployment is the lack of versatility and adaptability of the currently dominating glass-based solutions, which present important restrictions at integration level. With the ambition of overcoming those limitations and fulfilling architects’ demands, TECNALIA R&I has developed Solarface, a transparent fibre-reinforced photovoltaic (PV) encapsulation technology that provides freedom in terms of design, lightness, virtually no shape limitations, mechanical strength and durability, at a competitive cost. The fibre-reinforced PV technology makes possible the fabrication of customized products for various applications: building, urban environment, transport, aerospace. etc. The technology has been further developed and demonstrated in the FP7 funded BFIRST project (nº 290616), where portfolio of BIPV products were developed and real scale prototypes were manufactured and demonstrated. The development of the technology continues in EnergyMatching (H2020, nº 768766) where the influence of complex geometries on the cell-resin interface, aesthetic finishes and the introduction of additional functionalities to enhance performance are being explored

In the framework of increasingly demanding legislation related to energy performance in buildings, the integration of photovoltaic systems in the building skin offers many possibilities. However, a continuous development of the building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) market in the next years necessarily demands the compliance with strict requirements in terms of design flexibility, aesthetics, durability, cost reduction, grid integration, testing standards and operation & maintenance. Within this context, a European consortium of 15 partners is developing the H2020 PVSITES project, “BIPV technologies and systems for large-scale market deployment”. The project will demonstrate an ambitious set of BIPV solutions, specially tailored to provide a comprehensive and robust answer to market demands. This paper focuses on some of the major results achieved at the time of writing. These include a detailed BIPV market and regulatory framework analysis and recommendations for the standardization of BIPV products. Novel developments of glazed crystalline silicon modules for BIPV integration are presented, with both opaque and see-thru variations. Also included are the selection of a battery technology best suited for inclusion in a custom-made building energy management system (BEMS), as well as a BIM-compatible software tool to assist the design of BIPV projects.

27th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 430-432, The present research work aimed at developing an innovative photovoltaic module based on a glassfree lightweight and cost-effective encapsulation solution, easy and feasible to integrate in multifunctionality demanding applications such as BIPV and transport. The proposed solution is composed of an aluminium sheet as the backsheet and a transparent and monolithic glass fibre reinforced organic matrix composite as both, the encapsulant and frontsheet. The research work comprised encapsulation of commercial CIGS photovoltaic cells, being the composite manufactured through infusion process. Beyond the PV properties, the study was focused on the interface aluminium-composite, considered as a key factor for the performance of this approach. During the infusion process and curing of the composite the PV performance of the cells was not degraded, resulting in encapsulated cells with a 9.2%. After 200 thermal cycles (IEC 61646), a decrease in the electrical output of the cells was observed, but meeting the requirements of the standard. However, the pull-off adhesion strength was not affected by the cycles, remaining as high as 11MPa. These promising results will guide and motivate further studies of metal-composite encapsulation solutions devoted to integration purposes.

27th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 4712-4716, The European Union’s energy strategy sets specific targets for a sustainable growth during the coming decades, including reaching a 20% share of renewables in final energy consumption till 2020. To achieve that, a number of initiatives and measures have been in force. The favorable European policies as well as the Member States’ supporting legislations have resulted to high market growth for photovoltaics (PVs). However, the PV technologies’ application requires highly qualified technicians for PV installation, repair and maintenance. As national markets have been growing faster than the qualified PV installers force can satisfy, the appropriate training systems and certification schemes need to be developed in order to validate the competence of the installers and to ensure efficient and good functioning of installed PV systems. This is the scope of the European initiative PVTRIN, supported by the Intelligent Energy Europe programme of the European Commission, which focuses on the development of an appropriate training and certification scheme for technicians active in the installation and maintenance of small scale PV systems and sets the base for a mutual acknowledged certification scheme within Member States.

25th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition / 5th World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, 6-10 September 2010, Valencia, Spain; 4429-4433, In a real PV system, with various PV modules connected in series, some modules might be working under different conditions, hence the output characteristic of each panel might not be equal. Under this situation, the P-V curve of a PV array can show more than one Maximum Power Point (MPP) being only one of them optimum. Traditional Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) methods do not take into account this phenomenon, therefore, the system might be working at a non-optimum point, not taking advantage of all the available power. This paper presents an MPPT algorithm which deals with that circumstance in order to ensure that it finds the optimum point in any case. Experimental results of the proposed algorithm are included.

25th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition / 5th World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, 6-10 September 2010, Valencia, Spain; 4454-4458, Recently new Distributed Maximum Power Point Tracking (DMPPT) architectures have been released and launched to the market as an alternative to traditional MPPT configurations. These innovative solutions, based on a DC-DC converter for every single PV panel, have been specially designed to optimize the performance of heterogeneous PV systems, such as those integrated in buildings. Ideally, they can solve any mismatching problem, but actually this is not always feasible. This paper analyzes the performance of this kind of architectures in order to demonstrate that they fail under certain working conditions, depending on the operating range of employed DC-DC converters and the voltage at the input of the PV inverter.

24th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference, 21-25 September 2009, Hamburg, Germany; 289-294, In 2008, Japanese KYOSEMI Corporation and Spanish Technology Corporation TECNALIA signed a Collaboration Agreement for the development of a BIPV curtain wall based on KYOSEMI’s Sphelar® technology and TECNALIA’s developed concept of distributed architecture. In this paper, the main aspects of the product design and the validation plan, as well as the first tests results carried out by TECNALIA are presented. They show that the proposed BIPV solution presents higher efficiency and lower cell-occupated area than other BIPV products already available in the market, for the same power. Additionally, new features are achieved: unique aesthetical design and indoor lighting, possibility of different patterns and drawings without compromising efficiency, variable ranges of cell occupation, continuous monitoring of PV module performance, more efficient light capture by means of proper selection of glass and selective glass coatings, etc. First results show that the proposed combination is a really attractive option to be taken into account for building applications as solar power-generating glazing systems. The first prototypes will be concluded in October and ready to be installed in KUBIK®, the experimental building that TECNALIA has designed and built to serve as a testing laboratory on the performance of energy efficient products in buildings.

23rd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition, 1-5 September 2008, Valencia, Spain; 3103-3106, A new concept of solar simulator has been developed both by EKAIN TALEA and ROBOTIKER Technology Centre in order to cover a market sector focused on the training of future installers and PV inverter manufacturers. EKAIN TALDEA is an Spanish PV installer that has developed a training kit for PV installers. This product has allowed this company to be in excellent position in the education market. The developed solar simulator is used as part of the kit as well as in the PV industry for PV inverter and MPPT testing. The main innovation has been considered for the establishment of the conceptual design and power electronics architecture. It allows the verification of up to 1kW PV inverters, provides independency, repeatability of tests, possibility of testing any I-V PV curve defined by the user, without any limits but the maximum voltages and current values imposed by the power supply that feeds the simulator. And finally, it is possible to vary dynamically the climatic conditions –radiation, temperature- of the simulated PV system. Furthermore, new software for PC has been developed, valid to store generated I-V curves. This work has been funded by Basque Country Government under the INTEK-BERRI program.

23rd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition, 1-5 September 2008, Valencia, Spain; 3534-3537, It is just one year since the official opening of the Spanish Photovoltaic Demo Relay Node (PV-DRN) in Robotiker-TECNALIA facilities and it is time to come to the first conclusions and gained experiences. The PURE project “Promoting the Use of Photovoltaic Systems in the Urban Environment through Demo Relay Nodes”, is an ALTENER project whose main objective is the promotion of BIPV energy in some European regions with low level of penetration and excellent weather conditions. The PV-DRN, the means selected to promote the real integration of PV elements, is a kind of facility of about 50–100 m2 housing several promotional actions and it plays a key role in the dissemination activities during the project life. The aim of this paper is to present the first results of the Spanish PVDRN. Amongst these, we highlight the great reception of the guided-visits of professionals and general public, including municipalities’ technicians, architects, building owners, etc., to the Permanent Exhibition installations; or seminars for teachers of technical professional schools with high level of satisfaction of questionnaires. This project started in January 2006 and has been co-funded by European Commission under the Intelligent Energy - Europe Programme, contract number EIE/05/051/SI2.420200, and Spanish Government.

23rd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition, 1-5 September 2008, Valencia, Spain; 3501-3504, The increase of solar Photovoltaic (PV) applications day by day has promoted the innovative design of new type of solar cells and modules. Especially regarding Building Integration PV(BIPV) systems, lots of great advances have been made recently, particularly in new inverter topologies and topics related with aesthetic concepts of PV modules. Anyway, the especial working conditions of BIPV systems, due to different orientations and inclinations, shadows, reflections, dirtiness, etc. cause serious energetic losses and expensive maintenance costs. Some of these peculiarities are intrinsic to BIPV systems and can not disappear, but can be minimized using distributed intelligent architectures. The current work summarises ROBOTIKER-TECNALIA’s final work in this field: System Monitoring, Diagnosis and Maintenance Software. This application is continuously monitoring, storing all the PV system data and executing automatically failure detection and identification algorithms, optimizing the operation of BIPV systems.

23rd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition, 1-5 September 2008, Valencia, Spain; 3148-3151, The increase of solar Photovoltaic (PV) applications day by day has promoted the innovative design of new type of solar cells and modules. Especially regarding Building Integration PV(BIPV) systems, lots of great advances have been made recently, particularly in new inverter topologies and topics related with aesthetic concepts of PV modules. Anyway, the especial working conditions of BIPV systems, due to different orientations and inclinations, shadows, reflections, dirtiness, etc. cause serious energetic losses and expensive maintenance costs. Some of these peculiarities are intrinsic to BIPV systems and can not disappear, but can be minimized using distributed intelligent architectures. The current work presents the first experimental results conclusions of the ROBOTIKER-TECNALIA’s distributed PV system architecture.

36th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 1754-1758, Building-Integrated PhotoVoltaic (BIPV) has the potential to significantly contribute to the achievement of the demanding energy efficiency targets set by the EU. However, its market uptake has been hindered in the past years by the difficulties of the industry in providing holistic solutions complying with key demands from decision makers and end-users. Practically, among the most important technological challenges toward energy-efficient buildings are twofold: (i) bioclimatic design, considering eco-friendly sources as well as renewable and durable materials, and (ii) Building Information Modelling (BIM) methodology for the whole architecture, engineering and construction (AEC), involving design, production and process innovation respectively. The fragmentation of the value chain, especially in BIPV where building and electro-technical sectors need to work in a coordinated way, is a real threat to the competitiveness of the sector. In fact, a considerable share of cost for BIPV systems is not only related to the product (module, BOS, etc.), manufacturing and operation but also to inefficiencies along some project stages. So far, BIPV is still not supported by a completely digitized process which could ensure clear structures, efficient processes, lower costs, less time and higher quality across the entire lifecycle. Overcoming these challenges can be achieved by the implementation of BIM into the BIPV value-chain, in order to introduce an integrated process supported by digital and interoperable environments connected, from pre-design to manufacturing, as a key to address growing technical complexity and manufacturing flexibility. Digitalization can overcome the construction processes fragmentation and communication problems between stakeholders, to reduce on-site time for installation and improve building affordability throughout its lifecycle. Within this context, two European H2020 projects, PVSITES (www.pvsites.eu) and BIPVBOOST (www.bipvboost.eu), address the need for a software solution within a digital environment for the joint modelling, performance simulation and information management of BIPV and building energy systems.

33rd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 2882-2887, In the framework of increasingly demanding legislation related to energy performance in buildings, the integration of photovoltaic systems in the building skin offers many possibilities. However, a continuous development of the building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) market in the next years necessarily demands the compliance with strict requirements in terms of design flexibility, aesthetics, durability, cost reduction, grid integration, testing standards and operation & maintenance. Within this context, a European consortium of 15 partners is developing the H2020 PVSITES project, “BIPV technologies and systems for large-scale market deployment”. The project will demonstrate an ambitious set of BIPV solutions, specially tailored to provide a comprehensive and robust answer to market demands. This paper focuses on some of the major results achieved at the time of writing. These include a detailed BIPV market and regulatory framework analysis and recommendations for the standardization of BIPV products. Novel developments of glazed crystalline silicon modules for BIPV integration are presented, with both opaque and see-thru variations. Also included are the selection of a battery technology best suited for inclusion in a custom-made building energy management system (BEMS), as well as a BIM-compatible software tool to assist the design of BIPV projects.

37th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 2005-2009, Electricity markets in Europe are changing in response to the implications of the ongoing energy transition from centralized to decentralized and renewable energy supply. The European Commission has put focus on enlarging the role of prosumers, i.e. consumers that also generate electricity using photovoltaic systems. In response to that, we have investigated innovative self-consumption and aggregation concepts and business models for prosumers that will help integrating sustainable and competitive electricity from PV in the electricity system. We here report on the effect of prosumerism on electricity costs and greenhouse gas emission reduction in eight different countries: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. Next, the implications for changes in the electricity grid have been discussed with relevant stakeholders, including distribution grid operators. Recommendations and policy advise to EU and member states are derived and presented here.