Custom designed photovoltaic modules for PIPV and BIPV applications

Abstract

The vision to use Photovoltaics (PV) as a decentralized and sustainable source of energy in their products is shared by thousands of designers, architects, and manufacturers worldwide. In principle, PV can be integrated directly in products, such as devices, vehicles, and buildings. Nowadays, the development of photovoltaic modules is still primarily driven by the idea of economies of scales, which leads to unvaried PV modules that are only good for large-area installations. These photovoltaic modules are not suitable for the integration into building skins, roof tiles, or electric devices because of their rigidness and their electrical constraints. Even companies which could provide a solution for these applications (flexible thin-film PV firms) are not providing customized PV modules because of the associated set-up times. This paper addresses these obstacles and the development of novel solar cell materials and manufacturing processes. A novel manufacturing process is designed to enable the adjustment of all the properties of a thin-film module on-the-fly and facilitates the production of customized photovoltaic modules with the desired voltage, size, and shape. Combined with the material characteristics given by the underlying thin-film solar cell technology, a new-breed of design-led, sustainable, and decentralised energy solutions will be able to realize. The novel PV material was demonstrated in design driven prototypes ranging from solar charged mobile devices, solar lighting, and building integrated PV to full integration in textiles.