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 (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels renewable energy
- engineering and technology materials engineering coating and films
- engineering and technology materials engineering amorphous solids
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture
- medical and health sciences medical biotechnology cells technologies
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.3. - PRIORITY 'Societal challenges
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.2.3. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs
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H2020-EU.2.1. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
570 01 THESSALONIKI
Greece
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.