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ALTERNATIVE PROCESSES AND EQUIPMENT FOR ADVANCED MANUFACTURING OF PV TECHNOLOGIES TO BOOST THE EUROPEAN ENERGY INDEPENDENCE

Project description

Shining a light on Europe’s solar industry

Producing solar panels is costly and resource-intensive, creating challenges for manufacturers in Europe. Traditional methods use large amounts of energy, raw materials, and expensive metals like silver. These processes also generate waste and have a high carbon footprint, making it hard for Europe to compete with global players. To stay competitive, the photovoltaic (PV) industry needs cheaper, faster, and greener production methods. To tackle these challenges, the EU-funded EMPOWER project will develop tools and processes to transform PV manufacturing. By simplifying silicon wafer production, reducing silver usage, and improving efficiency, EMPOWER aims to cut costs and waste while boosting sustainability. This will help Europe regain its leadership in solar technology.

Objective

The EMPOWER project will develop alternative equipment and processes to advance PV manufacturing, tackling the bottlenecks across the entire value chain-from Si wafer production to PV module fabrication-. Our goal is to reduce Capital Expenditure (CapEx) and Operating Expenditure (OpEx), leading to a lower Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) in Europe. We aim to enhance throughput, yield, sustainability, and decrease energy and raw material consumption. We will demonstrate the high-quality N-type Si wafers production using direct wafering tools, bypassing the traditional PolySi, ingot, and sawing process, contributing to cost reduction, minimizing waste production CO2 footprint. This innovative wafering technology will revolutionize the traditional wafer process, revitalizing Europe's PV upstream industry. Simultaneously, we will demonstrate alternative metallization processes for solar cells to reduce silver (Ag) consumption, high-throughput edge passivation to mitigate power loss during cell cutting, and high-speed interconnection and lamination to meet flexibility requirements in diverse cell and module configurations. The emphasis is on advancing N-type Si-based high-efficiency solar cell technologies, prioritizing low carbon footprint production, with an opportunity to compete with the Chinese PV industry. Leveraging Industry 4.0 implementation, EMPOWER aims to enhance production efficiency, improve PV production quality, and further reduce production costs. The project includes a demonstration of a virtual vertically integrated PV production line, along with the development of business cases and market introduction strategies. Through close collaboration in a multidisciplinary and multiactor approach including a solid exploitation and business development strategy, EMPOWER will not only achieve low-cost European PV manufacturing, but also bring Europe back to the leadership in the PV sector.

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Keywords

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Programme(s)

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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.

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.

HORIZON-IA - HORIZON Innovation Actions

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) HORIZON-CL5-2024-D3-01

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Coordinator

INSTITUTT FOR ENERGITEKNIKK
Net EU contribution

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.

€ 1 758 875,00
Total cost

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.

€ 1 758 875,00

Participants (18)

Partners (5)

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