Bringing down costs of BIPV multifunctional solutions and processes along the value chain, enabling widespread nZEBs implementation

Project Information

BIPVBOOST

Grant agreement ID: 817991

DOI

10.3030/817991

Project closed

EC signature date 24 September 2018

Start date 1 October 2018

End date 31 May 2023

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Secure, clean and efficient energy

Total cost

€ 11 434 538,75

EU contribution

€ 8 844 070,14

Coordinated by

FUNDACION TECNALIA RESEARCH & INNOVATION
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - BIPVBOOST (Bringing down costs of BIPV multifunctional solutions and processes along the value chain, enabling widespread nZEBs implementation)

Reporting period: 2021-08-01 to 2023-05-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Decarbonization of the energy system is key to guarantee the long-term sustainability of the European society. The building sector, including residential and non-residential buildings, provides the second largest untapped potential for energy savings after the energy sector itself, accounting for 40% of EU’s final energy demand and, therefore, numerous strategies and initiatives have been promoted by the European Union in the past decades in order to improve the energy performance of buildings, with increasing scope and ambition.

Building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) technology has the potential to significantly contribute to the achievement of the demanding energy efficiency targets set by the EU. However, its market uptake has been hindered in the past years by the difficulties of the industry in providing holistic solutions complying with key demands from decision makers and end-users. In this sense, it is a common perception that a joint industrial effort is needed to conceive and develop highly-efficient and multifunctional energy producing construction materials, in order to provide market opportunities at a world-wide level for the European photovoltaic and construction industry value chains. This market deployment depends critically on the achievement of ambitious targets in terms of significant cost reduction, flexibility of design, high performance, reliability in the long-term, aesthetics, standardization and compliance with legal regulations. Within this context, the main objective of BIPVBOOST project is to bring down the cost of multifunctional BIPV systems, limiting the overcost with respect to traditional, non-PV, construction solutions and non-integrated PV modules, through an effective implementation of short and medium-term cost reduction roadmaps addressing the whole BIPV value chain and demonstration of the contribution of the technology towards mass realization of nZEBs.

The ultimate goal of the project is to demonstrate the key cost reductions required to implement BIPV technology in the real market, moving from iconic and costly BIPV towards a mass-market and cost-effective approach with a clear focus on the ordinary built stock, that will require a deep energy renovation in the next decades.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

During the first and second period, the following results were obtained:

(1) Public reports on the analysis of current status of competitiveness of BIPV, cost reduction roadmap for BIPV and analysis of the potential contribution of BIPV to nZEB
(2) Design, development and installation in a real industrial environment of the flexible & automated BIPV manufacturing line allowing the mass-manufacturing of customised BIPV solutions in a cost-competitive way
(3) Prototype manufacturing and upscale of: a-Si patterned glass-glass BIPV modules, large thickness glass-glass bifacial cell modules for balustrades and back-contact walkable floors and curtain walls
(4) Prototype manufacturing of BIPV building skin solutions, including (i) multifunctional BIPV façade cladding system, (ii) enhanced BIPV roof and façade systems and (iii) click-&-go mounting system
(5) Report on standardization, performance risks and identification of related gaps for a performance-based qualification in BIPV submitted
(6) Development of new BIPV-specifc testing procedures on Energy Economy, Electrical, Mechanical and Fire requirements
(7) Comprehensive testing plan, including indoor (PV, mechanical, fire...) and outdoor testing
(8) Comprehensive workflow for digitization of BIPV industry supported by BIM innovations (Building Information Modelling/Management) highlighting hotspots, barriers, strategies and proposed solutions (D6.1) and improvement of BIMsolar addressing the whole value chain, from design to installation
(9) Development of BEMS for residential & tertiary buildings, analyzing cost model parametrization for the different use cases and identifying the required monitoring and control systems.
(10) Prototype development of the BIPV Digital Twin aimed at providing generation forecasting tool to BEMS and training datasets to Failure Detection and Diagnosis (FDD).
(11) Development of FDD tool for BIPV.
(11) Final design of the 4 demo sites completed

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The progress beyond the state of the art of the solutions proposed within BIPVBOOST project can be summarized as follows:

FLEXIBLE AND AUTOMATED MANUFACTURING LINE:
A new flexible and automated manufacturing line will be developed, allowing to address the manufacturing of customised BIPV modules, leading to significant improvement in terms of quality and cost effectiveness of BIPV modules.

PORTFOLIO OF LOW-COST BIPV MODULES:
A new set of low-cost BIPV modules will be devloped, comprising the use of new coloured modules, the development of patterned a-Si solutions, and bifacial solutions for balustrade applications.

ENHANCED AND COST EFFECTIVE ROOF AND FACADE SOLUTIONS:
A set of new products showind adavance performance, aesthetics and easy installation process at a reduced cost will be developed.

DIGITAL & DATA-DRIVEN PROCESSES FOR COST REDUCTIONS


The main impacts are focused on the following categories:

Cost reduction of BIPV solutions: BIPVBOOST action is built upon a holistic strategy aimed at triggering cost reductions along the BIPV value chain: manufacturing, building skin, logistics, standardisation, building energy management, etc. The ambition is to be fully competitive with their counterparts, non-PV solutions from the architectural glass industry.

Replicability: The BIPV products proposed are conceived as a clear and holistic answer to market demands, combining flexibility of design with standardization in order to promote market replication. Demonstration buildings have been chosen attending to criteria of market replication potential, associated with their industrial activity or the type of building entrusted to the project. An effort has been done to cover different building types and uses, architectural implementations and climatic conditions. Replication is also the aim of the work on the most suitable business models for BIPV.

Socio-economics: The project will contribute to strengthening the European BIPV and construction industries, through a significant increase in installed capacity and as a consequence a very relevant direct and indirect job creation. These targets will consequently improvement of EU access to energy and energy security. Another key impact is the increase of stakeholder awareness on renewable energy generation.

Environmental: Bringing down costs of renewable energy, increased reliability and lifetime. Reduction of CO2 emissions and life-cycle environmental impact are expected as a result of the market stimulation foreseen by the project. Contribution to EU energy and climate roadmaps, especially those related with on-site electricity generation in the building sector (nZEBs).

Policy: BIPVBOOST objectives are fully aligned with the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, the Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET Plan) and the visions from the Solar Europe Industry Initiative (SEII), the European Energy Research Area (EERA PV) and the IEA-PVPS task 15 on BIPV. This alignment is based in providing and demonstrating flexibility of design, multifunctionality, compliance with standards and cost-effectiveness of a wide range of BIPV solutions.

New flexible and automated manufacturing line for BIPV

Back-contact curtain wall