Layered (2D) hybrid organic-inorganic halide perovskites have emerged as promising semiconductors in optoelectronics. These materials consist of halide perovskite slabs templating organic moieties, offering unique optoelectronic properties and the ability to self-assemble into well-organized structures via solution-processing or mechanosynthesis of powders. Despite their potential for applications in optoelectronics, such as solar-to-electric energy conversion in photovoltaics and systems for neuromorphic computing, their performance is inferior to that of 3D perovskite analogues. This is mainly due to the electronically insulating nature of organic moieties, which impedes charge transport in functional devices. However, the tunability and self-assembly of these hybrid materials present opportunities to enhance their optoelectronic properties and establish a novel platform for templating functional photochemical transformations.This project aims to utilize layered (2D) perovskites as hybrid organic-inorganic scaffolds for templating photochemical transformations within the organic spacer layer, enhancing their optoelectronic properties and expanding their applications in modern optoelectronics. Specifically, the focus will be on integrating light-responsive polyaromatic molecular systems into the hybrid 2D perovskite framework that are capable of photopolymerization, photocyclization, or photoisomerization upon light irradiation, enabling photochemical transformations that are otherwise challenging or inaccessible in the solid state. As a result, the photoinduced transformations will not only improve the charge transport through the organic layer, thereby enhancing the optoelectronic characteristics of the hybrid materials, but also enable the development of multi-state switching in memory elements for neuromorphic computing.This will be accomplished through the complementary expertise of three research partners, namely the IChO PAS in Poland (synthesis of polyaromatic compounds and their applications, such as in singlet fission), HUN-REN TTK in Hungary (synthesis and characterization of light-responsive molecular systems), and EPFL/AMI in Switzerland (fabrication and characterization of hybrid perovskite materials and devices, complemented with photochemical characterization). Our approach will integrate various techniques, encompassing molecular and material synthesis, comprehensive characterization, and device application. This innovative approach will introduce novel concepts for templating photoinduced transformations in hybrid materials, unlocking new functionalities to propel advancements in modern optoelectronics.

Fortunately, the number of PV systems on Swiss roofs is steadily increasing. However, climate change is also expected to lead to an increase in the number of hailstorms and thus also in hail damage. If glass breaks, a module must always be replaced. However, it is often not easy to tell whether the module is so badly damaged that it needs to be replaced. The SPF's mobile PV laboratory (www.pv-lab.ch) can reliably detect and classify cell damage. More than 500 PV systems were measured in this way after the severe hailstorms in Switzerland in 2021. The Achilles project evaluates this data and analyzes the influence of various parameters, such as hail size or the year of construction of the systems, on the development of module and cell damage. Furthermore, the long-term behavior of cell damage will be investigated. Shortly after cell cracks occur, they have little influence on the performance or safety of the modules, but this can change in the medium to long term. A module with minor damage can often continue to supply energy for a long time without any problems and therefore does not need to be replaced immediately. However, it is important to have a reliable basis for deciding when a module needs to be replaced. For this reason, a test procedure for the accelerated aging of PV modules in relation to the long-term effects of hail damage is to be developed and tested on various modules with and without hail damage. Finally, recommendations are to be made. Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Plug & Play photovoltaic systems are becoming increasingly popular. Because they are not installed systems but consumer products, their regulatory treatment is challenging. The "Plug & Play PV Systems" project aims to address the most important issues relevant to Switzerland. Because this requires many different stakeholders, the project group consists of Meteotest (calculating the potential for Plug & Play PV systems), VSE and BKW (assessing the systems from the grid operator's point of view), ESTI, electrosuisse and VSEK (assessing the safety of Plug & Play systems), as well as the BFH, which is leading the project and answering normatively unresolved safety questions in laboratory tests. The PV industry will be represented in the project by three partners with many years of experience with Plug & Play PV (Energie Genossenschaft Schweiz, hassler energia, Solarblitz). The aim of this project is, on the one hand, to propose pre-normative rules and, on the other hand, to draw up proposals for the regulation of installations from the point of view of VSE, electrosuisse and ESTI, well consulted in the consortium.

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have received vigorous attention from academia and industry due to their high efficiency (25.7%), solution processability, and low cost. Stacking two perovskite solar cells with complementary bandgaps in a monolithic tandem solar cell (TSC) configuration, highest certified efficiency of 26.4% has been achieved on glass substrates, surpassing other types of polycrystalline thin-film solar cells. However, all-perovskite monolithic tandems are still far from reaching their practical efficiency potential (>32%), and the long-term stability under operation conditions remains a grand challenge. Particularly, (a) wide-bandgap (WBG, 1.75-1.85 eV) mixed-halide perovskites usually suffer from high trap density (manifest as low PLQY) and severe photoinduced halide segregation that leads to large VOC-deficit (> 500 mV) and poor operational stability in solar cells; (b) narrow-bandgap (NBG, 1.2-1.3 eV) mixed Pb-Sn perovskites are prone to oxidation (from Sn2+ to Sn4+), which results in a high density of Sn vacancies that degrade the optoelectronic quality and stability of the films. Consequently, a short carrier diffusion length limits the thickness of NBG perovskite well below 1 ?m and results in incomplete near-infrared photon absorption and hence usually low JSC (~ 85% of Shockley-Queisser limit). To overcome the stability and efficiency limiting challenges, several key scientific challenges need to be addressed: 1) can we thermodynamically stabilize WBG perovskites with high PLQY? 2) is it possible to fundamentally eliminate the Sn oxidation pathway? 3) what are the microscopic fundamental degradation mechanisms in tandem solar cells? To this end, we aim to design and develop substrate configuration all-perovskite monolithic tandem solar cells on flexible and textured substrates that could deliver both extremely high operational stability and efficiency. The main idea is to develop novel materials, processes, photon and carrier management strategies, advanced cell architecture, and a fundamental and universal understanding of instability pathways and performance losses (and their interdependency). We will focus on: 1) developing radically different substrate configuration tandem architecture to eliminate metal-induced degradation pathway; 2) design and implementing rear surface texturing to improve the light trapping of near-infrared photons for significantly improving the JSC of NBG perovskite subcell to above 95% of the S-Q limit, without increasing the absorber thickness; 3) developing a new PVD/Blade-coating method that allows combinatorial materials synthesis to explore largely unexplored compositional and structural space of NBG (~ 1.2 eV) and WBG (~ 1.8 eV) perovskites to discover new chemically and structurally robust perovskite materials with simultaneous high optoelectronic quality and stability; this approach allows exploring new fabrication method to fundamentally eliminate Sn oxidation pathway, and novel concepts, such as high entropy alloying, to thermodynamically stabilize WBG perovskites; 4) developing advanced characterization workflow to gain comprehensive understanding of defects, structure, and optoelectronic properties as well as (thermal- and photo-) stability of new materials and associated interfaces that could guide materials and devices development; This will enables a fundamental understanding and establishment of a complex relationship between composition-optoelectronic property-stability, which is currently missing in the field. The project will progress in an iterative feedback loop consisting of device architecture design, new materials exploration, mechanism understanding, interfaces and solar cell optimization. Based on this approach, novel substrate configuration monolithic all-perovskite TSCs will be developed on flexible and textured substrates with both extremely high efficiency (~28%) and stability with T95>2000 hours stressed at MPP.

Sun-Ways is said to be the only system for mounting interchangeable solar modules between the rails of a railroad. This would make it possible to install photovoltaic panels between the rails, then remove them quickly and mechanically to enable maintenance work to be carried out over several hundred meters of track, and finally to replace the panels in the same place once the maintenance work has been completed. The aim of this first stage is to build a 100-meter-long demonstrator on a to test the concept in a real-life situation. Des panneaux solaires entre les rails de chemin de fer

The École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne EPFL (Switzerland) and the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE (Germany) organise the 2022 SOPHIA-workshop ‘PV-Module Reliability’ in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. This workshop will feature reliability aspects of innovative PV applications in service life prediction modelling, testing and standardization as well as possibilities offered by data analytical methods to work on reliability topics. The main topics are "Integrated PV and special applications", "Novel cell types influencing reliability" and "Alternative polymeric materials in PV modules and relation of reliability to sustainability".

The photovoltaic topics Perovskite & Organic Solar Cells as well as OLEDs and new materials and devices in the field of batteries, quantum dots and OLECs are in the scope of the conference and we also include contributed talks in the programme. We expect about the same number of participants from Switzerland as from abroad. In addition to simulation, the physics of the devices and experimental data will also be discussed at SimOEP. https://www.zhaw.ch/de/engineering/institute-zentren/icp/veranstaltungen/simoep/

Switzerland participates in the IEA PVPS Task 12 on “PV Sustainability”. In the work period 2013-2017 some of the flagship products of IEA PVPS Task 12, such as the methodology guidelines for life cycle assessment (Frischknecht et al. 2015a; Frischknecht et al. 2020a) and net energy analysis of PV systems (Raugei et al. 2015) as well as the compilation of life cycle inventories (LCIs) of PV systems (Frischknecht et al. 2015b; Frischknecht et al. 2020b), were updated and further developed. Additionally, life cycle assessments (LCAs) were carried out for future PV electricity production (Frischknecht et al. 2015c), residential PV battery systems (Krebs et al. 2020) and the current recycling of PV modules (Stolz et al. 2017). The IEA PVPS Task 12 has entered a new work period at the end of 2017. The subtasks and activities of IEA PVPS Task 12 in the work period 2017-2022 are summarized in Tab. 1.1. The Swiss contribution focuses on the life cycle assessment of PV systems in subtask 2. Addi-tionally, the deliverables of related activities in subtasks 1 (recycling and end-of-life man-agement of PV systems) and 3 (broader sustainability topics) are reviewed. This project proposal includes activities that are on the current agenda of the IEA PVPS Task 12 and the IEA PVPS Task 15 on building integrated PV.

OpenGIS4ET successfully delivered Citiwatts 3.0, a comprehensive open-source energy planning platform that advances the green transition across heating, cooling, mobility, and sector coupling domains. Building on the H2020 Hotmaps foundation, the project reached TRL-8 by providing default data for all EU27 nations, UK, Norway and Switzerland at national and local levels, enabling energy planners and public authorities to efficiently analyze, model, and map solutions to meet their energy demands. The platform features a robust DevSecOps development framework with continuous security analysis through SonarQube integration, responsive design compatibility across desktop and mobile devices, and comprehensive two-factor authentication through Keycloak services. A secure public API enables external system integration, while advanced session management allows users to maintain multiple calculation results per module, transforming the tool from single use to a comprehensive analysis workspace. Three sophisticated calculation modules were developed and validated through real-world case studies: The EV-Mobility tool provides Vehicle Kilometer Travelled mapping with charging behavior modeling across four scenarios (home, workplace, points of interest, and home office charging), coupled with photovoltaic production potential analysis. The District Heating and Cooling tool addresses temperaturelevel optimization with economic feasibility assessment. The Sector Coupling tool integrates electrical, heating, and transport systems through connection with EnergyPLAN, enabling comprehensive flexibility analysis for multi-sector energy planning.

In the "Energy perspectives 2050+" in 2050 37 GW (34 TWh / 40%) of PV power is foreseen. Above a yearly percentage of approx. 15%, PV production is higher than load minus baseload production at certain moments. Two options are available to remedy this situation: storage or production curtailment. The proposed work aims at analyzing data for Switzerland to optimize the operational implementation of these two options with the objective delivering firm, effectively dispatchable PV production on the Swiss power grid at the least possible cost. The main result is to present the optimum between storage deployment and output curtailment – the latter implying PV oversizing, to guarantee delivery of a given quantity of electrical energy.

This concept responds to current issues: reconciling PV & vegetation or PV & snow, limited roof load reserves, seasonal and daily phase shifting of PV production, maximizing the self-consumption rate, lack of exploitable space to accelerate the development of PV in Switzerland and in regions far from the equator. Vertical bifacial photovoltaics offer several significant advantages, but one major drawback: wind load. "LightSwing" combines "lightness" and "balancing" to cope with the wind wind load, suspending PV panels "like washing from a line". This system makes it possible to install solar power systems on sites that are still undeveloped for technical or financial reasons. Lightswing Solar could thus play an interesting role in accelerating the development of PV in Geneva and elsewhere.

The potential for electricity production by means of photovoltaics on roofs in Switzerland has been determined in various studies. The potential estimates vary widely, ranging from 16 to 53 TWh per year. One reason for this large range is the different assumptions regarding the proportion of roof surfaces that can be used for photovoltaics. The present study determines the proportion of roof areas on Swiss roofs that can be used for photovoltaics. A distinction is made between flat and pitched roofs and a categorization is made based on the size of roof areas. The average proportion of roof areas that can be used for photovoltaics is determined for each category. For this purpose, a randomized sample per roof category is taken from the data set of Sonnendach.ch. data set from Sonnendach.ch. Roof areas that are "good", "very good" or "excellent" suitable (irradiation ? 1000 kWh/m2/a) are considered. The sample size is based on The standard error of the mean value for the usable roof area fraction, which must reach a target value of ± 2.5 % per category.

Empirical studies from many countries show that open-space PVAs have the potential to make an important contribution to promoting local biodiversity. If no ecologically sensitive habitats are destroyed or impaired for the construction of a solar plant, the benefits for wild animals and plants are often likely to outweigh the disadvantages. The surrounding agricultural land could in turn benefit from improved ecosystem services, such as more efficient natural pest regulation and pollination of crops, with increased biodiversity. The prerequisite for such positive effects is a near-natural design and extensive forms of use within the open-space PVA, adapted to the natural conditions. How these forms of design and use should look in concrete terms is only addressed in a few studies, and the information is often based on qualitative statements and “gray literature”, e.g. general recommendations for the promotion of wildflower meadows and site-typical woody plants. This literature study also shows that most studies to date have only been based on individual or a small number of open-space PVAs, which is why at best only localized statements are possible. In addition, there is often a lack of quantitative results and therefore a lack of scientific evidence

This study provides an overview of the state of the art in international research, focusing on possible impacts of ground-mounted PV systems on biodiversity, on individual species groups, and on ecosystem services and forms of agricultural use. In addition, the influence of ground-mounted PV systems on microclimatic site factors (e.g. soil and air humidity, soil and air temperatures) is explained in order to assess the direct or indirect impact of these factors on local flora and fauna. In addition, it will be outlined which habitat types within open space PV installations are biodiversity enhancing and how proper maintenance of solar farms could be done. Knowledge gaps are identified, clarified and, wherever possible, put into a Swiss context. In the synthesis chapter, positive and negative impacts of ground-mounted PV plants are summarized and evaluated across groups. Suggestions are made on how the best possible conditions for ecologically high-quality ground-mounted PV systems could be created. Finally, initial suggestions for further action are formulated.

In der vorliegenden Studie wird ein Überblick über den Stand der internationalen Forschung vermittelt, wobei mögliche Auswirkungen von Freiflächen-PVA auf die Biodiversität, auf einzelne Artengruppen sowie auf Ökosystemleistungen und landwirtschaftliche Nutzungsformen im Vordergrund stehen. Zusätzlich wird ausgeführt, welchen Einfluss Freiflächen-PVA auf mikroklimatische Standortfaktoren haben können (z.B. auf Boden- und Luftfeuchtigkeit, Boden- und Lufttemperaturen), um den direkten oder indirekten Einfluss dieser Faktoren auf die lokale Tier- und Pflanzenwelt abschätzen zu können. Ausserdem wird dargelegt, welche Lebensraumtypen innerhalb von Freiflächen-PVA biodiversitätsfördernd wirken und wie ein sachgerechter Unterhalt von Solarparks erfolgen könnte. Wissenslücken werden identifiziert, präzisiert und, wo immer möglich, in einen schweizerischen Kontext gebracht. Im Kapitel Synthese werden positive und negative Auswirkungen von Freiflächen-PVA gruppenübergreifend zusammengefasst und bewertet. Es werden Vorschläge gemacht, wie bestmögliche Voraussetzungen für ökologisch hochwertige Freiflächen-PVA geschaffen werden könnten. Abschliessend erste Vorschläge für das weitere Vorgehen formuliert.

Community-financed PV systems (CFP) offer a broader population, especially tenants, the opportunity to participate financially in the development of solar energy. However, the potential of GFP models to contribute to the energy transition is still unclear. This project combines different perspectives of key actors for the success of GFP models (providers, early adopters, potential adopters) to provide a comprehensive view on the potentials and barriers of GFP models. The focus of the project is on the users. This offers the opportunity to shed more light on the preferences, concerns and priorities of existing private small investors and to better understand which offers are particularly attractive to existing and potential future users. This perspective also sheds light on frameworks and policy measures within the project that may encourage participation in CFPs. The interim report describes the results of a comprehensive research on GFP offers in Switzerland, as well as interviews with GFP providers (n=18) and early adopters of such models (n=20). The results so far show that the GFP market in Switzerland is still small, but developing dynamically with diverse providers and types of offerings. From the providers' perspective, umbrella availability is a short-term obstacle in the development of new GFP offerings. In the longer term, possible changes in the framework conditions (electricity market liberalization, feed-in tariffs) create uncertainties regarding the future attractiveness of CFP offers. The motivations of early adopters to participate in a CFP model can be environmental and/or financial. When both motivations are present, they are often weighted differently. However, the design of the offer plays an equally important role in the attractiveness of GFP offers, e.g. that the project is tangible, concrete and that participation is financially low-threshold. The extent to which early adopters are a special population group and how attractive GFP models are in the broader population are questions that will be investigated in the further course of the research project. Citizen-financed photovoltaics (CIFI PV) offer citizens the opportunity to participate in the financing of solar energy projects. To date, the potential of this financing model with regard to the expansion of renewable energies has not been studied in-depth. The present project investigates this potential from different perspectives to create a comprehensive picture of CIFI PV in Switzerland. It consists of three work packages. Work package 1 includes an status quo analysis of the CIFI PV landscape in Switzerland, based on a market analysis and interviews with CIFI PV providers and experts (N = 18), as well as a comparison between Switzerland and the situation in the EU. Currently, there are more than 50 different CIFI PV offers in Switzerland, with demand clearly exceeding supply. These offers are very heterogeneous in their design (provider type, payment mode, duration, etc.) and, in contrast to the EU, there are no uniform definitions in Switzerland and thus no basis for a specific regulation and/or support of CIFI PV models. Work package 2 focuses on experiences and participation motivations of early adopters, i.e. individuals who have already invested in CIFI PV. For this purpose, an interview study (N = 20) and an online survey (N = 510) were conducted. Most of these early adopters are male and have an above-average education. Contrary to the widespread assumption that CIFI PV models are primarily attractive to renters, about half of the early adopters turned out to be homeowners. Early adopters are largely satisfied with their participation and willing to invest again. However, they do not primarily see their participation as a financial investment, but rather as a personal, tangible and local contribution to the energy future. Work package 3 focuses on potential adopters, i.e. the broad Swiss resident population. It includes a factorial online experiment (N = 808, representative sample of the CH resident population) and an online vignette experiment (N = 512, representative sample of the CH resident population). The results show that around 60 % of the respondents are interested in investing in a CIFI PV offer. This is independent of its specific design (e.g. provider type, payment mode, project location) and communicative framing. Potential adopters also associate CIFI PV offers more strongly with motives such as local value creation, the environment and energy independence than with financial motives. Overall, it appears that CIFI PV is primarily perceived as a positive and tangible thing and impact-oriented motivations are central in the decision-making process to invest. From these results, four main evidence-based messages were developed in a synthesis process with the supporting group of experts: • Growing niche market: CIFI PV is currently still a growing niche market in Switzerland. This growth of the last 10 years has been particularly driven by new offers from utilities. • Demand currently exceeds supply: The willingness to invest in CIFI PV projects among the general population is high but cannot be fully exploited due to a lack of supply. The current challenge is mainly the development of new CIFI PV projects. • Fragmented market with room for development: The current landscape of CIFI PV offers in Switzerland is heterogeneous and most providers do not see themselves as part of a common market or sector. Early adopters do not show a clear preference for certain offers or providers. This offers CIFI PV providers ample room to position themselves and develop various models. • Positive impact and independence through local and tangible projects: The motivations of (potential) investors to participate in CIFI PV projects are heterogeneous and strongly impact-driven. The support of a tangible, local project and the promotion of energy independence are key reasons to participate. Based on a set of main messages, recommendations for decision-makers were developed with the aim of supporting the use of CIFI PV models for the expansion of PV in Switzerland. These recommendations are addressed to legislators, CIFI PV providers, project developers and intermediaries. Furthermore, two directions for future research in the field of CIFI PV and its role in the transformation of the Swiss energy system were identified. One is to create a better understanding of the supply side (development of business cases for new CIFI PV projects). On the other hand, it is important to better understand potential benefits of CIFI PV models, such as their potential to create acceptance, for example in the context of large and potentially controversial energy projects (e.g. PV in alpine areas or wind power).

With the 410 kWp PV-installation on the Albigna hydropower dam the first large scale system will be put into operation in sum- mer 2020. Due to its location it is subjected to extreme meteorological impact. With analysis of the performance data, periodic measuring of module power, thermal images and general assessment of plant condition information on long term reliability of PV-plants at similar locations shall be gained.

The Solar-era.net project AmBi PV II focuses on new interconnection approaches for bifacial solar cells. The higher current in bifacial modules causes increased ohmic power losses which can be addressed by advanced interconnection techniques, such as shingling, 1/2 cells or combined approaches. Three interconnection technologies are investigated in this project, including related optimizations of the cell/module materials and layouts. A new wire based concept for the interconnection of bifacial IBC (Interdigitated Back Contact) cells and two shingling interconnection approaches for PERX cells.

Battery storage systems used today are not operated to support the stability of the distribution grid. The primary reason for this unused potential is the fact that there is no incentive for the battery storage operator to use a grid-friendly mode of operation. Distribution system operators are increasingly interested in grid-friendly operation for reasons of grid stability and the growing popularity of battery storage, but they do not know how to motivate customers to operate their storage systems on a grid-friendly basis. This project aims at quantifying the benefits of decentralized, customer-side battery storage for the distribution grid. Incentive systems for grid-friendly operating strategies will be identified and evaluated. Finally, recommendations will be made to show how a grid-friendly operating strategy can be designed and technically implemented.

Metal halide perovskites (MHP) have emerged as one of the most studied semiconductors due to their excellent optoelectronic properties. This is evidenced by the rapid development of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) with a record certified photoconversion efficiency of 23.7%, similar to those of silicon cells. Nonetheless, industrial application of PSCs is critically hampered by instability issues, including intrinsic, environmental, and operational factors. Instability is attributed to several chemical and dynamical processes that occur at very distinct time scales, like slow ionic rearrangements and physical and chemical interactions in the bulk and at interfaces with contact layers. These phenomena cause IV hysteresis, and ultimately, device degradation. In this proposal, we combine the complementary capacities of classical and quantum computational tools to develop versatile numerical models for large scale molecular dynamics, capable to capture the physics and chemistry that trigger processes causing instability issues. To this end, we will (1) establish a universal set of reliable and transferable reactive force fields for Classical Molecular Dynamics (CMD) simulations and (2) develop new methods to describe dynamics and chemistry of MHP in the long-time scale. We will apply them to study the intrinsic stability of complex MHP alloys and their interactions with selective oxide contacts. The force fields and large scale MD simulations will be refined and validated by experimental data involving X-ray diffraction, photoelectron spectroscopy and electrical measurements in the time/frequency domains of functioning devices. The availability of these numerical tools and user-friendly software, with the potential to describe with reasonable accuracy complex MHP alloys for large sizes and in the long-time scale, will make it possible to accomplish key advances to extend the durability of PSCs and to provide software and testing benchmarks to enable researchers to achieve this goal.

HALBION aims at fostering the deployment of cost-competitive, highly efficient solar cells by further developing the “tunnel-IBC” technology, a very lean yet remarkably efficient back-contacted silicon heterojunction solar cell architecture developed by the project partners. HALBION will hence (i) demonstrate tunnel-IBC devices with >26% efficiency, (ii) investigate the potential of half tunnel-IBC devices to lower the cell-to-module losses, and (iii) develop the appropriate metrology tools.

The surface of the engine shed in Saignelégier is used to produce electricity using a photovoltaic installation, and consumed by injecting it directly into the 1500Vdc contact line of the Jura Railway. In order to optimize local electricity consumption and reduce power peaks, a 50kW battery is planned. Clean traction energy is produced locally. Existing electrical infrastructures are used by directly connecting the PV plant to the contact line (innovative part of the project). Batteries connected to the 1500 V DC bus are used to reduce peaks and power fluctuations.

Energy islands, i.e. locations with electricity and heating requirements that are not connected to the public power grid and are remote from major transport routes, are ideal for the use of local renewable energies such as solar energy, hydropower, or wind power. In Switzerland, these locations include alpine farms, mountain huts, and mountain restaurants in particular. In this study commissioned by SwissEnergy, we examined the current energy supply situation at such locations and determined the technical possibilities for supplying them with renewable electricity and renewable heat. Legal and economic aspects were also examined.

Energy island sites, i.e. sites with electricity and heating requirements that are not connected to the public power grid and are located away from major transport routes, are predestined for the use of local renewable energies such as solar energy, hydropower or wind power. In Switzerland, these locations include in particular alpine farms, mountain huts and mountain inns.

This project targets the development of industrially feasible transparent conductive oxides (TCO) to reduce the cost of high efficiency silicon solar cells using full-area passivated contacts, which have demonstrated efficiencies above 25% in cleanroom and pre-production environment. While research and industry currently focus on silicon thin films, either amorphous (a-Si) or silicon oxide (SiOx)/polycrystalline silicon (pc-Si) fabricated in the range of 200°C to 900°C, respectively, the CUSTCO consortium will address the significant impact of the TCO on the cost and performance improvements of such devices and hence on the success for their industrialization. While the main focus will be on the TCOs, the silicon thin films will also be addressed since the overall contact properties and hence the performance and stability of the devices are defined by the tight interplay between both. TCO materials which are already widely used for thin film solar cells, displays or sensors will be tested for their applicability to such silicon wafer based solar cells and new materials will be explored or adapted. While the typical approach is to optimize the TCO for a given silicon contact system, we will first concentrate on a more holistic evaluation of the TCO and then choose the proper silicon-based contacts for device integration. The application of the developed a-Si or SiOx/pc-Si based contacts will allow for a wide TCO process window to utilize so far unexplored potential of these materials. Material improvements by hydrogenation of the TCO will also be addressed with the final goal to demonstrate a cost efficient, upscalable and stable TCO for a highly efficient (>24%) silicon solar cell. An important aspect of the project will be the substitution or at least a drastic reduction of Indium, which is a rare element but currently the most widely used in TCO materials.

Photovoltaik-Solarmodule (PV-Module) haben ihren Wirkungsgrad in den letzten zehn Jahren erheblich verbessert. Der kontinuierliche Anstieg von PV-Anlagen weltweit geht einher mit enormen Preissenkungen im selben Zeitraum. Höhere Leistung bei gleichen Kosten ist ein Konzept, das die Industrie mit dem Ziel höherer Wirkungsgrade für Solarmodule umgesetzt hat: erhöhte Reinheit der Materialien, neue Konzepte für die optimale Erfassung des photogenerierten Stroms und Optimierung des Modullayouts sind einige von der Industrie eingesetzte Methoden, um die Leistung der 60-Zellen-Standardmodule im Laufe der Jahre von 200 W auf 300 W zu steigern. In letzter Zeit wurden vermehrt bifaziale Solarmodule am Markt eingeführt. Bei dieser Technologie werden Solarzellen und Modullayouts verwendet, die auf beiden Seiten Licht sammeln und die Sonnenstrahlen effizienter in Elektrizität umwandeln können. Durch die Optimierung ihrer Position und Orientierung und die Reduzierung der Rückseitenverschattung auf ein Minimum können bifaziale PV-Module im Vergleich zu herkömmlichen monofazialen PVModulen zwischen 5 % bis 30 % mehr Energie produzieren.

Dieses Dokument beschreibt die Exportdaten der Studie "Studie Winterstrom Schweiz - Was kann die heimische Photovoltaik beitragen?" (2019). In dieser Studie wird in drei Szenarien überprüft, wie gross der Anteil der Photovoltaik (PV) an der Winterstromversorgung der Schweiz sein könnte. Die drei Szenarien beziehen sich jeweils auf eine Solarstromproduktion von 30 TWh, jedoch mit unterschiedlichen Annahmen bezüglich der realisierten PV-Anlagen. Das Szenario "Zubau wie bisher (ZWB)" geht davon aus, dass die 30 TWh mit einem PV-Anlagenpark gebaut werden, der ähnliche Flächen verwendet wie die heute bereits umgesetzten Anlagen. Das zweite Szenario "Maximales Winterstrompotenzial (MWP)" verwendet die Flächen, welche den höchsten Winterstromanteil aufweisen. Das dritte Szenario "Anreize Winterstrom (AWS)" nimmt an, dass ähnliche Flächen verwendet werden wie heute, dass es jedoch eine stärkere Gewichtung der winterstromoptimierten Flächen gibt.

Das Potenzial für Solarstrom in der Schweiz ist gross. Bei einem Landesverbrauch von knapp 60 TWh elektrisch beträgt das Potenzial für Photovoltaikanlagen (PV-Anlagen) rund 50 TWh auf Dächern und 17 TWh an Fassaden1. In dieser Studie wird angenommen, dass von diesem Potenzial 30 TWh realisiert werden. Während der Stromverbrauch im Winterhalbjahr jedoch höher ist als im Sommerhalbjahr, produzieren die meisten PV-Anlagen in der Schweiz im Sommer mehr Strom als im Winter. In der vorliegenden Studie wird die Winterstromproduktion im Detail untersucht.

Perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells have been identified as a highly promising approach to overcome the efficiency limit of any single-junction technology at low production costs. However, current state-of-the-art perovskite-based solar cells have so far failed to survive to field-relevant reverse bias conditions for reasons that remain unclear. This project will clarify the mechanisms controlling this degradation and develop optimised tandem cell architectures that resist to these conditions. Perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells have been identified as a highly promising approach to overcome the efficiency limit of any single-junction technology at low production costs. However, current state-of-the-art perovskite-based solar cells have so far failed to survive to field-relevant reverse bias conditions for reasons that remain unclear. This project will clarify the mechanisms controlling this degradation and develop optimised tandem cell architectures that resist to these conditions. Perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells have been identified as a highly promising approach to overcome the efficiency limit of any single-junction technology at low production costs. However, current state-of-the-art perovskite-based solar cells have so far failed to survive to field-relevant reverse bias conditions for reasons that remain unclear. This project will clarify the mechanisms controlling this degradation and develop optimised tandem cell architectures that resist to these conditions. Perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells have been identified as a highly promising approach to overcome the efficiency limit of any single-junction technology at low production costs. However, current state-of-the-art perovskite-based solar cells have so far failed to survive to field-relevant reverse bias conditions for reasons that remain unclear. This project will clarify the mechanisms controlling this degradation and develop optimised tandem cell architectures that resist to these conditions. Perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells have been identified as a highly promising approach to overcome the efficiency limit of any single-junction technology at low production costs. However, current state-of-the-art perovskite-based solar cells have so far failed to survive to field-relevant reverse bias conditions for reasons that remain unclear. This project will clarify the mechanisms controlling this degradation and develop optimised tandem cell architectures that resist to these conditions. Perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells have been identified as a highly promising approach to overcome the efficiency limit of any single-junction technology at low production costs. However, current state-of-the-art perovskite-based solar cells have so far failed to survive to field-relevant reverse bias conditions for reasons that remain unclear. This project will clarify the mechanisms controlling this degradation and develop optimised tandem cell architectures that resist to these conditions.

Die Schweizerische Statistik der erneuerbaren Energien schätzt die Nutzung der Sonnenenergie anhand von Markterhebungen. Zur Validierung dieser Statistik sollen bestehende Solaranlagen mithilfe von Deep Learning basierten Algorithmen aus Luftbildern vollautomatisch identifiziert und quantifiziert werden. Dank dieser Methode kann der aktuelle Bestand installierter Solaran-lagen genauer bestimmt werden. Zudem erlauben die Ergebnisse eine Standortbestimmung der Umsetzung der Energiestrategie 2050.

The municipality of Capriasca is currently installing a PV plant in the village of Lugaggia on the roof of the local kindergarten. However, the self-consumption potential of the kindergarten is low. AEM, the DSO serving the area, intends therefore to promote the creation of a Self-Consumption Community named Lugaggia Innovation Community (LIC), connecting together the kindergarten with ten nearby houses. AEM aims at testing and verifying its capability to provide new energy services to its customers, by leveraging on two novel technical solutions provided by the Swiss companies Optimatik and Hive Power. The first solution consists of a centralized energy management platform, which uses the existing smart meter infrastructure for sensing and actuation. The second solution implements a decentralized control approach secured by the blockchain technology, through a meter adapter.

Thin film solar cells based on hybrid organic-inorganic salts with perovskite structure are considered to be the most promising technology for low cost, large-scale photovoltaic energy conversion. This new ap-proach has literally overrun most of the competing efforts focused on high-throughput solution coated devices. The UPero project aims to scale-up an efficient production process while reducing the thermal input and increasing the coating speed. The results shall foster the industrialization of this young thin film technology. A full size solar module will be demonstrated at the end of the project. The present proposal UPero shall establish the groundwork for industrial large-area production.

The SODA project aims at demonstrating the applicability of big-data analytics to forecast the power generation of distributed photovoltaic systems and to identify technical issues on these systems. PV production data from commercial monitoring sys-tems will feed advanced machine learning algorithms. The main scientific challenge will be to make the forecasting algorithms robust against unavoidable faults or gaps in data and to quantify their performance in a reliable way.

The PV system costs can only be reduced if increased module efficiency is combined with cost efficient production concepts such as thin film processing. Disruptive improvement of the module efficiency can be achieved by combining promising single junction technologies to tandem devices. Suitable candidates for the two single junctions that fulfil the high efficiency and cost-efficient production criteria are thin film chalcogenide and halide based perovskite solar devices. Both material systems allow tuning of the energy band gap values and suitability as bottom and top cells has been demonstrated in proof of concept studies. In this project we will employ only deposition methods that are industrially relevant and scalable in area and deposition speed and propose a perovskite device structure that does not require highly expensive organic transport layers with questionable long term stability and wherever possible we will select materials that are already in use or compatible to the bottom cell structure. We will pay special attention to performance stability and will propose strategies to overcome the intrinsic degradation of perovskite devices. Finally, we will demonstrate flexible tandem mini-modules and evaluate the commercial potential.

The potential of solar technologies in desert areas is huge. Still, solar energy systems can suffer from power reduction due to sand accumulation, requiring frequent cleaning of solar fields to guarantee optimum performance. Advanced technologies will be studied and developed in this project to ensure contactless cleaning, using electrical pulses to charge and displace sand particles. The objective will be to demonstrate the technological building blocks enabling for an integration of such smart-cleaning approach into commercial photovoltaic modules, at competitive costs.

Through this project, 55 modules of 7 different types were measured and analysed in detail by the SPF mobile installation. 25 of them operated for 5 years at 1800 meters above sea level, the others have operated for about 5 years on the swiss plateau. The purpose of the project was to determine whether severe weather conditions and regular operation above nominal power have degraded the modules in the Alps significantly more than in similar installations at low altitude. On the contrary, it appears that the modules affixed to the roof, and therefore less ventilated, suffered on average more degradation than the alpine modules. The photovoltaic modules have endured the alpine conditions very well, which is encouraging for future deployment.

This project concerns the funicular “Biel / Bienne – Magglingen/Macolin”, which is fully integrated into the public transport offer of Biel/Bienne (? VB / TPB). Cable trams are not only part of mountain regions and tourist areas, but also part of public transport. Operators would like to increase the share of self-generated renewable energy. In addition, they want to reduce the energy expense of a cable transport system, which represents around 50% of the total operating cost3 (? costs for energy and maintenance), providing a significant incentive. To investigate the feasibility of achieving these goals, measurements were carried out on-site at Macolin in July 2017. After analysis of the measurement data, a feasibility study was written. The study demonstrated that with a storage system integrated into the funicular control, the braking energy and the renewable energy generated by solar-PV could increase the self-consumption up to 80-90% and reduce electrical energy cost by up to 30%. A pilot project was financed with the support of the FOT program "ESPT 2050" (Energy strategy 2050 for public transport). The project was carried out in collaboration with the company Frey AG from Stans and the Doppelmayr - Garaventa group under the direction of the University of Applied Sciences “Technical & Architecture” Lucerne (HSLU T&A). The funicular (315 kW main motor) was completely renovated in summer 2019 and equipped with a storage system (67 kWh / 60 kW). In September 2020, the photovoltaic system (42 kWp) was integrated into the funicular control.

In a pilot project a photovoltaic proof of concept power plant will be realized. The photovoltaic converter will directly produce 16.7 Hz and feeding this current in the 15 kV catenary grid by innovative re using an existing contact line transformer (15 kV /230 V, 16.7 Hz). Contact line transformers existing in a large amount in the 15 kV catenary grid and are predestinated for a feed in of decentral photovoltaic production for example on roofs of train platforms. The innovative feed in concept with the re use of existing transformers will reduce the production costs of the photovoltaic energy. The pilot project shall show the possibility of an roll out of this innovative feed in concept.

On the BLS factory buildings in Bönigen, the PV system is used for the company's own power supply. The surplus yield is primarily stored in salt accumulators, and secondarily hydrogen (expansion project) is to be produced and temporarily stored for the mobility of the two shunting blocks on the site. on the site will be produced and temporarily stored. Tertiary, a high-temperature heat pump will be used to heat the domestic hot water for vehicle washing systems and heating circuits to up to 90°C. The natural refrigerant CO2 is used as the refrigerant. The energy generated by the PV system is to be used entirely on site to cover the company's own needs.

The prefabrication of facade elements for this construction project multi-family home Seewadelstrasse shall include the ventilated mounting structure for a solar-active glass façade. Thus, the measure and installation of the mounting substructure on the building can be avoided. Because all facade design including the substructure are added together on the factory site, the scaffold work is obsolete or can be greatly simplified. For the completion of the facade on the building site, PV facade modules can be attached to the mounting structure using a scaffolding lift. This facilitates also the use of large PV modules, because no scaffolding structure impedes the mounting process. With the higher prefabrication, cost can be saved by optimizing of the scaffolding and installation work as well as coordination between planners and craftsmen on the construction site.

Next generation photovoltaics, based on organic, inorganic or hybrid absorbers, can be fabricated as thin, lightweight and flexible modules. This makes them attractive for integration in building façades and consumer products. From these technologies, organic photovoltaics is the most mature, pursued by a number of companies and marking efficiencies up to 13%. Hybrid perovskite cells, on the other hand, is a new technology but with soaring efficiencies, above 22% on cell level. These technologies rely on substrates coated with a transparent electrode. For flexible modules, ITO-coated PET is by far the most common (ITO: indium tin oxide), despite its high cost, poor mechanical stability and limited applicability as cathode. NEXT-FOIL develops an alternative to ITO-coated PET, based on dielectric/metal/dielectric (DMD) multilayers, sputtered at industry-compatible deposition rates. As dielectrics, single and mixed oxides, based on TiO2 (intrinsic and doped) and MoO3 will be used. While TiO2, with low work function, is suited for electron extraction, MoO3, a high work function oxide, is employed to extract holes. In mixed oxides, the work function can be adapted to fit specific device energetics. As metals, Cu and Ag offer optimal performance/cost ratio. DMDs deliver: Lower cost than ITO; sheet resistance < 10 ?/sq without need of substrate heating during deposition or post-processing; stability of the resistance against bending; adaptability for use as cathode or anode, depending on the used dielectric. The competitive edge of the DMD-based foils will be demonstrated with the fabrication of efficient hybrid perovskite modules. A complementary consortium has been gathered to realize the project. AIT will tackle design, simulation and experimental realization of the DMDs, PLANSEE will develop the sputter targets for the high throughput deposition and SOLARONIX will implement the developed electrodes in efficient perovskite cells & modules. To this end, selected anode and cathode electrodes will be deposited in a roll-to-roll process.

This project is devoted to the development and process integration of a new generation of passiv-ating contacts for crystalline silicon solar cells. Based on the unique expertise in plasma deposition developed in Neuchâtel, the project should enable such contacts to extend the learning curve of standard technologies. Eventually, the project will lead to devices above 24% with lean processes, contributing to reducing the cost of solar electricity and mitigating the space usage of photovoltaics.

In this pilot project, an ice storage system has been developed in order to maximise the consumption of own electricity, as well as to increase the cooling efficiency in a supermarket. Coop was the initiator and project manager, while Frigo-Consulting was responsible for the planning and commissioning of the system, and the ZHAW as scientific partner carried out the evaluation and conclusion of the measured data. An ice storage tank with a storage capacity of 464 kWhth was installed in an energy-efficient Coop sales outlet, was coupled to the photovoltaic (PV) system via the refrigeration machines and studied over a period of one year. Whenever possible, the solar electricity produced was consumed directly, but the excess electrical energy was converted into thermal energy and stored in the ice storage. This reduced the amount of PV electricity fed into the grid. At times when no surplus electrical energy was available, the ice storage was discharged, so that the grid electricity consumption of the refrigeration system should be reduced. The ice storage tank was dimensioned to store 60% of the excess PV electricity. A first commissioning of the ice storage unit was carried out at the beginning of 2019. In the first phase the system was optimised and in the period November 2019 to November 2020 it was evaluated. Two evaluation methods were defined: - Comparison between the supermarket with the ice storage system and a sales outlet, as similar as possible, without an ice storage system, in order to investigate the effects of the impact of the ice storage system compared to conventional systems. - Comparison between two operating modes, in order to examine the influence of the ice storage system in more detail. Mode 2 causes a more intensive use of the ice storage under the same outdoor conditions as mode 1. This project has shown that an ice storage unit can be integrated into a direct evaporative CO2 refrigeration system. When functioning correctly, this represents a more economical and more environmentally friendly alternative than battery storage. From the evaluation it was established that the ice storage was used effectively from April to October. Nevertheless, it was often only partially discharged, as the refrigeration system required less supporting cooling energy than originally assumed. The benefit of the ice storage could not be proven in this project. It was indicated that the refrigeration system is operated more efficiently than assumed, which drastically reduces the benefit of the energy from the ice storage. In addition, exergetic calculations of charging and discharging show a strong energy devaluation, which ultimately leads to low electrical savings. Furthermore, the oversized PV system counteracts the storage concept. Its enormous electricity production reduces the own consumption share to up to 50%; an increase in the share due to the ice storage could not be established. Peaks of the discharge before the charging phase suggest that the ice storage effectively reduces the electricity consumption, but lower consumption by the refrigeration systems could not be entirely attributed to the ice storage discharge. Contrary to the share of own consumption, however, the absolute own consumption was increased, which leads to a relief of the power grid. With smaller systems, the "peak shifting" would have been influenced more intensively. In summary, there is a presumption that the ice storage can be used to store solar electricity, as shown by the theory of the concept presented. However, the above-mentioned comparison between two sales outlets and the limited observability of the system do not allow any conclusive statements. Further investigations within the Etagnières branch with modified operating parameters could show whether the statements made here are correct or incorrect.

Mit Einmalvergütung und Abstimmung/Analyse der Grösse der PV-Anlage auf die Stromlastkurve des Landwirtschaftsbetriebs kann wirtschaftlich PV Strom auf dem eigenen Dach produziert werden

Die winterliche Stromversorgung der Schweiz gerät mit dem Wegfall der Bandenergie zunehmend in den Fokus. Die Eidgenössische Elektrizitätskommission ElCom warnt in ihrem Newsletter vom 30.3.2018 aufgrund der hohen Stromimporte vom vergangenen Winter: «Bleiben die Zubauraten der erneuerbaren Energien moderat, dürfte die Importabhängigkeit weiter zunehmen». Sie sieht deshalb insbesondere im Winter grosse Herausforderungen auf die Schweizer Versorgungssicherheit zukommen. Obwohl PV-Anlagen im Schweizer Mittelland nur etwa 30% ihres Ertrags im Winterhalbjahr liefern, kann ihr Ausbau im Zusammenspiel mit der Wasserkraft zur Sicherung der Winterstromversorgung beitragen. Ein hoher Solarstromanteil im Sommerhalbjahr erlaubt es, die Speicherkraftwerke in diesem Zeitraum weniger zu nutzen, wodurch für das Winterhalbjahr mehr Wasserreserven zur Verfügung stehen. Die beiden Technologien ergänzen sich dabei ideal, sind doch die Solarenergieerträge im Frühjahr schon relativ hoch, während die Wasserkraft vor der Schneeschmelze erst wenig liefern kann (siehe Abbildung 6). Die Aussage, dass die Jahresproduktionskurven von Wasserkraft und Solarenergie weitgehend deckungsgleich seien, stimmt nur für Flusskraftwerke, nicht aber für Speicherkraftwerke

This report presents the most important results of the performance analysis of Swiss photovoltaic systems in the period from 2009 to 2016. With an evaluated statistically relevant sample of plants within the FIT program (KEV), which represents approximately 12% of the installed PV capacity in Switzerland. The evaluations were carried out with a methodology developed by TNC focusing on the following areas: general performance of the Swiss PV plants, effective annual yields com- pared to statistical assumptions, impact on the performance of PV plants due to degradation over time as well as technological progress and geographical differences in performance. The devel- oped methodology systematically combines the reported electrical yields of the PV plants and their site-specific compiled irradiation, which is based on measured meteorological data, and evaluates the performance ratio (PR). The performed analysis shows that the Swiss PV plants generally perform well with an average PR of slightly higher than 0.75. In the period under review, the effective annual yields of the evaluated plants are on average 2.3% higher than the statistical assumptions of the FIT program (950 kWh/kWp for well-performing PV systems). The degrada- tion of the evaluated PV plants over time was found to be at -0.2 ... 0.3% per year. The techno- logical progress of new plants leads to an increase in PR of approximately +0.36% per year. Analysis of the geographical distribution of PR show that the cantons in the French and Italian speaking parts of Switzerland have slightly higher average annual yields, while the cantons in the German-speaking central part of Switzerland have slightly higher than average PR values. How- ever, the differences found are marginal. An extension of the evaluated time series of 2009-2016 for the recorded PV plants in upcoming projects would provide much needed insights based on a statistically significant number of PV plants concerning the degradation of PV plants over time. Data quality was found to be mostly solid and the methodology has proven to be robust. There is room for improvement in the standardization and recording of data for future evaluations.

Photovoltaic (PV) energy is experiencing significant cost reduction over the last years. Lately, the bias voltage of photovoltaic panels have risen from 1000V to 1500V, leading to a significant reduction of the Balance of Plant cost. In order to improve the Levelized Cost of Energy, manufacturers are increasing the installed DC power of PV panels for a given nominal AC power of the inverter (so-called capacity factor) from 1.2-1.3 to higher values. This results in a larger voltage at the maximum power point of the PV panel. As a consequence, conventional power electronics solutions rated at 1700V maximum voltage are not suitable. This is because they are typically designed to deliver nominal power below approximately 1300V, but increasing the capacity factor leads to higher maximum power point voltage. Therefore, new solutions are required in order to deliver rated power near 1500V. The aim of 1500-SIC is to develop enabling power electronics solutions capable of delivering nominal power at 1500V with very high efficiency and high volumetric power density at competitive cost. The consortium includes Gamesa Electric from Spain, worldwide supplier of PV inverters; Infineon Technologies Austria, worldwide supplier of semiconductors for power electronics; and ETH Zurich Advanced Power Semiconductor Laboratory from Switzerland, a world-class research centre focused on semiconductor devices and power modules. Specifically, the consortium will work together to develop a novel Silicon- Carbide diode and a MW-class inverter optimized to deliver nominal power at voltage levels up to 1500V. The developed technologies will be built and tested at full scale through a comprehensive testing campaign. The consortium includes key industrial actors in the supply chain of power electronics for PV solutions and a research centre. This maximizes the impact of the R&D outcomes of this program into the European Renewable Energy Industry.

The main objective of the project PanelPV is to develop visual attractive façade elements, which produce solar electricity at an acceptable, market conform cost level. The project aims at the development of new facade elements with integrated PV based on sandwich panels made by Panelen Holland and CIGS based PV foil made by Flisom. In the project we will integrate these two into new power generating fa-çade elements. We will develop a technology to make the PV foil translucent, such that the integrated product appears to have the same color as the underlying sandwich panel. This gives the producer of the sandwich panel full freedom in color or print selection. The project will result in the fabrication of a demo facade in which several sandwich panels with different colors will be integrated and electrically interconnected.

Development of a single glazed PVT collector of high electrical and high thermal efficiency, which can be easily integrated into a thermal system thanks to an overheating protection effective at a temperature level of about 100 ° C. Active participation in the new IEA SHC Task "PVT Systems" and management of Subtask D "PVT Systems Performance assessment and dissemination".

The Swiss company Insolight is developing a patented PV module that promises a reduction in LCOE for roof-based solar from 0.16€/kWh to 0.011€/kWh. The system uses an array of micro-solar cells with optics and integrated microtracking to produce a low-profile rooftop-compatible solar system with an independently demonstrated efficiency of over 36%, a 100% efficiency gain over cSi. This high efficiency is made possible through the use of advanced multi-junction cells under concentrated light, a technology known as CPV. Specifically, the product represents one of the first commercial examples of micro-CPV (?CPV ), wherein the cells are 1mm2 in size or less. ?CPV increases performance (due to reduced cell operating temperature, higher optical efficiency and lower series resistance losses) and lowers costs. Insolight innovation has further improved the ?CPV concept by embedding sun tracking internally in a 50mm-thick panel, enabling roof-top or BIPV installations and avoiding ...