Project description
Eco-friendly and battery-free PV module for smart buildings
The search to reduce CO2 emissions and transform to an economy based on renewable energy has increased the interest in solar energy that has the best properties possible. However, solar energy highly depends on weather conditions, its storage is expensive and it provokes certain environmental concerns. The EU-funded PRO-S project proposes an advanced photovoltaic (PV) module that is flexible, semi-transparent and toxic-free and generates electricity. It is the first PV module to produce and store electricity as hydrogen based upon needs, which means it is highly efficient on cloudy days. It is battery-free and recyclable and has low maintenance cost and environmental impact while being an economic source of energy. The project will develop the module for commercialisation in the construction and building market.
Objective
With the ever-increasing demand for energy, the search for alternative energy sources has increased. Solar energy is by far the most abundant form of renewable energy and has the potential to partially replace fossil fuels, but its mass adoption is hindered by its weather dependency, the cost of their energy storage systems and certain environmental concerns. PRO-S® is the first flexible, semitransparent and toxic-free photonanobiotech module that uses conductive small organic molecules (proteins from bacteriorhodopsin cultivation) to produce electricity. It is an outperformer for our target markets since: 1) it is the first product capable of generating electricity and store it as hydrogen upon needs, obtaining higher efficiency in cloudy and sunny days compared to standard PV (60% and 16%, respectively); 2) it has low maintenance costs and environmental impact since no batteries are needed and is 60% recyclable; 3) it is a low cost energy source since the manufacturing is cheap (30% lower than standard PV) and independent from market fluctuations; and 4) it can be easily integrated and customized to any size. Being our first opaque PV module currently market for parking meter and table boards (eboard), our next goal is to fully develop and market a more complex and semitransparent PRO-S® module for its application as solar panel for buldings and glass windows. We will take advantage of our current partners and distributor network (from previous product eboard) to successfully deploy our improved product into the construction and building market. We plan to conduct a Feasibility Study to analyze the technical, commercial and financial viability of our advance product PRO-S® to ensure its market deployment and uptake. We estimate to reach a turnover of €38 Mio and to create a total of 25 direct jobs -and 500+ indirect jobs- in 2024, with an NPV of €8.2 Mio.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1Coordinator
08304 MATARO
Spain
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.