Project description
Nanomaterials yield transparent solar panels for greenhouses and Agri-PV systems
Sustainably feeding the world's growing population requires solutions that ensure adequate food supply while using as little water and energy as possible. Improving greenhouse farming becomes a pivotal quest. The EU-funded PanePowerSW project is introducing an innovative solar panel technology for greenhouses and Agri-PV systems that enables the growth of most crops because it is uniformly transparent over the visible spectrum. Thanks to the combination of a nanostructured coating material and silicon solar cell technology, this product is the ideal solution for producing agricultural products with a negative CO2 footprint per kilogram of produced crops. The project's achievements will signal a new era in sustainable and low-impact food production.
Objective
According to United Nations, the world population will reach 9.7 billion by 2050. Food, energy and water are three critical resources that must be managed for mankind to thrive. With these figures, a 70-100% increase in food supply will be needed to maintain our current nutrition levels. Given that agriculture accounts for 14% of world’s energy usage, 70% of water usage and 11% of CO2 emissions, it is clear that new technology is needed for feeding the world in a sustainable way. Greenhouse farming is as it increases the food production per m2 up to 10x compared to open field agriculture, while using 10x less water. However, Greenhouses require 10x the energy to operate. This is the market opportunity driving our technology development
Brite has developed PanePower Solar Window (SW) which is a unique transparent (80%) solar glass panel that generates clean energy. The solar glass combines a nanostructured coating material with silicon solar cell technology to deliver a product ideally suited for greenhouse applications. PanePowerSW contributes in reducing the energy operating costs in greenhouses from 25-28% (of their total operating cost) to near zero depending on climate conditions. The technology enables the growth of almost any kind of crop because it is uniformly transparent over the visible spectrum. Our company has won grants from SME Instrument (Phase 1 and Phase 2), which enabled the technology of PanePowerSW to reach a TRL of 7. By applying to the EIC Accelerator Complementary Blended Finance program, we expect to enter the market in 2021, and sell at least 4 million m2 of solar glass (equivalent to over €160 M of cumulative revenue) by 2026. At our exit (within 5-6 years) we project a return on investment for the EIC equity funding of 7x or higher.
Fields of science
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsrenewable energy
- engineering and technologymaterials engineeringcoating and films
- medical and health scienceshealth sciencesnutrition
- agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesagriculture
- medical and health sciencesmedical biotechnologycells technologies
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2Coordinator
57001 THESSALONIKI
Greece
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.