Exploration on how could Chinese PV module recycling companies scale up a new recycling technology

As of 2021, China's newly installed photovoltaic (PV) capacity has topped the world for nine consecutive years. Considering that the general life of crystalline silicon PV modules is 25 years, in the near future, China will face a wave of decommissioning of waste PV modules. Therefore, it is crucial to develop and improve China's PV module...

Comparison of on-board vs stationary energy storage systems for PV-powered multifunctional trolleybus grids

Trolleybuses are electric buses than run on electric power from overhead electric power lines (catenary) like trams do. Although is a service that dates all the way back to 1882, it has managed to regain interest in the recent years due to the constant electrification of various aspects of the world. This comes as a response towards...

High Voltage Multijunction Photovoltaic Devices: Current Matching and the Characterization of Low Bandgap Material Germanium Tin

A next step in the energy transition is to produce green fuels from sunlight. One way to achieve this is via high voltage photovoltaic (PV) devices which can directly drive electrolysis reactions to produce hydrogen or other chemical fuels. Group IV based multijunction (MJ) PV devices are a candidate to function as these high voltage devices.<br...

Sensor Integration in PV Devices: State of the Art and Future Opportunities

The on-field performance and lifespan of PV modules are affected by the interaction of numerous parameters, among which temperature, strain, and humidity. Among these parameters, only temperature is occasionally measured in PV installations, and such monitoring is often external to the module. This limits its use and does not provide accurate...

PV System Monitoring and Fault Detection using Peer Systems

Solar energy is an abundant, scalable, and clean source of energy. With an exponential drop in prices of PV modules, more and more rooftop photovoltaic (PV) systems are being installed worldwide. Since these small-scale PV systems do not use expensive sensors, it is difficult to detect malfunctions for these systems. This could lead to lower...

Photovoltaic and Heritage: Towards the energy transition of the building environment

Reaching a neutral use of energy in the building environment is challenging. That is because, as the population expands, so does the energy consumption. Considering that the building environment is accountable for 40 percent of energy consumption and 36 percent of total CO2 emissions, the building sector has to conform with specific guidelines...

Dimmable fenestration and incorporated photovoltaic design: Smart Window design with PDLC and AL-BSF cells

The built environment contributes with 39% of the CO2 emissions in the world [3]. At the same time it is a sector that is expected to grow from US$10.9 trillion (2017) to US$12.9 trillion (2022) [4]. A sector with such an economic growth but with a negative environmental impact needs to innovate in order to reduce its carbon footprint. These are...

Contact Stack Evaluation for SHJ Solar Cells and Process Development of IBC-SHJ Solar Cells

Nowadays, silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cell is one of the most promising photovoltaic technologies thanks to the outstanding passivation quality from the a-Si:H layers. Together with the interdigitated-back-contacted (IBC) architecture, it enables the highest efficient, 26.7%, single junction c-Si solar cell. However, the mass production...

An albedo irradiance model usable for bifacial PV modules based on LiDAR data and ray casting

Despite the fact that the price per watt-peak for photovoltaic modules are decreasing rapidly, there is a large population of people which have still not implemented photovoltaic technology in their everyday lives. An important reason why PV is still not the main source of electrical energy for these people is the uncertainty that comes with...

Design Optimization of Bifacial Photovoltaic Noise Barriers Using a High Granularity Energy Yield Modelling Approach

Integration of bifacial photovoltaic module with a noise barrier (PVNB) has emerged as one of the promising innovation in the building integrated PV (BIPV) system application. By having the advantage to absorb both the light incident from the front and the rear side of the cell, bifacial PV module is suitable for a vertical installation...

The diamond Stadium: The solar envelope as an architectural tool

Philips Stadium is the home of PSV Club in Eindhoven. The existing stadium is in need of architectural, spatial and sustainable improvement. This graduation project focuses on the transformation of the existing stadium into a solar powered stadium at the same time integrating the stadium into the city. In other words also the transformation of a...

Development of a photovoltaic ceramic roof tile

Two important barriers in adopting rooftop PV are the (perceived) lack of compatibility with current (tiled) roofs and the poor aesthetics of roof-mounted PV panels. This has led to the idea of PV roof tiles, which could take away these barriers. The Delft-based company FlexSol Solutions has the unique capability of curving highly efficient...

Economic assessment of an integrated photovoltaic power and heat system on a residential level

Households installing a photovoltaic system today in Germany are facing de-creasing feed-in tariffs and high electricity grid prices. Converting excess photovoltaic power into heat is presently discussed as a viable option for energy storage; yet the problem has not been fully investigated from an economic point of view. This paper assesses the...

Topology Optimisation of Metallisation Patterns in Photovoltaic Applications

Renewable energy is a trending topic nowadays. Government restrictions force us to produce less CO2 and use more renewable energy sources. One of the ways of becoming a more sustainable society is by using solar energy. Solar panels are promising in supplying a large part of our energy demand. The price per kWh is important to be competitive...

Self sustaining solar roofing

Over the years renewable energy slowly has grown to a bigger and bigger market, not only available for idealist and proactive environmental aware consumers, but also for customers that would like to have a fair return of their investment. Looking to solar energy, more specific photovoltaic (PV) solar products this return on investment rate is...

A Hybrid Renewable Energy System for a Rural Area in Africa

In Africa, as a developing region, the introduction of sustainable energy presents an opportunity to provide a large number of people with a better source of energy resulting in a better quality of life while reducing the impact of global warming. Electricity is not available to many communities in Africa because the large capital investment...