The most profitable Solar collector on the market to supply Heat and Electricity

Project Information

SHE

Grant agreement ID: 947496

DOI

10.3030/947496

Project closed

EC signature date 24 February 2020

Start date 1 March 2020

End date 30 June 2023

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 2 800 120,50

EU contribution

€ 1 960 084,35

Coordinated by

ABORA ENERGY SOCIEDAD LIMITADA
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - SHE (The most profitable Solar collector on the market to supply Heat and Electricity)

Reporting period: 2021-03-01 to 2023-06-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The quest to decarbonize society’s electrical and thermal systems has never been more urgent. While this decarbonization of the electrical system is on track, the decarbonization of thermal systems is not, There is also the need for better sector coupling to ensure a resilient energy system to meet these needs.
Of the Total Final Energy Consumption 51% is Thermal and 17% is Electricity according IRENA in 2017. So, it is needed renewable producction of both energies.
Renewable energy applied in buildings is mainly photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal (ST). Solar irradiation can be converted into electricity by PV or into useful thermal energy as sanitary water, space heating, or cooling by ST. However, solar thermal heat and solar photovoltaic electricity compete for space in rooftop.
The combination of both technologies is known as photovoltaic thermal hybrid solar collectors, also known as hybrid PVT or PVT or PV-Thermal. PVT converts solar radiation into usable thermal and electrical energy. PVT solutions address another important and increasingly emerging issue – spatial and network constraints.
The only way to achieve widespread renewable energy in cities is to have very profitable solutions, and this requires an increase in energy efficiency and reduction in costs. SHE reaches this goal, since it provides:
1. cost-effectiveness
2. better energy yield per unit of occupied surface
3. simultaneous solar production of electricity (because in the same surface PV-Thermal produce also Electricity)

The main objective of the SHE Project is to complete the DEVELOPMENT and OPTIMISATION of SHE collectors while simultaneously EQUIPPING, IMPROVING and SCALING-UP our manufacturing facility to be able to produce SHE hybrid solar collectors by the end of our EIC Accelerator project (grant). Our vision is to massively facilitate the use of renewable energy for electricity generation and to heat buildings and businesses.
We plan to achieve the following four specific objectives.
Objective 1. Optimised solar collector with high energy performance and low cost
Objective 2. Production line ready to manufacture SHE hybrid solar collectors
Objective 3. Validated cost-effective solar collector
Objective 4. Plan a commercialisation strategy to take off growth

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

We follow SHE collector technological roadmap to go: from Idea&Prototype to Marketable-Product (from TRL6 to TRL8)
OPTIMIZED DESIGN AND MANUFACTURABLE DESIGN coordinated with PROCESS DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING LINE DESIGN TO MAKE SHE Technology HAPPENS
1. We have optimized the SHE collector design to a complete virtual and manufacturable design. This SHE collector design has already been tested in our Laboratory.
Task 1.1. Simulation model development and validation.
We have developed and validated in our laboratory a theoretical model capable of predicting the energy performance of the solar collector, in relation to any change in its characteristics.

Task 1.2 Heat recovery (absorber) mechanical design.
Different heat recovery profiles were proposed and analysed individually by means of CFD analysis, obtaining the efficiency for each solution. Then, several absorbers with different geometries have been designed for industrialisation and manufactured by different European suppliers specialised in each of the geometries.
Task 1.3. Solar collector optimised mechanical design.
In our development, the solar panel is a set of layers of different materials and with different functions. Our aim is the optimal functioning of all of them together, rather than the optimisation of one layer.
Throughout the development of this task, numerous tests and prototypes have been carried out. We have tried different manufacturing techniques, materials and configurations, seeking to optimise the mechanical design, the feasibility of industrialisation, the cost of materials and the cost of manufacturing.
From the design of a new frame to the geometry of the photovoltaic cells and the invention of specially developed and manufactured parts to make this unique panel possible.
2. Design a new manufacturing line for SHE production of 10,000 units capacity.

Task 2.1. SHE solar collectors production line mechanical design
We have carried out a parallel process between the development and design of the SHE panel and the definition and feasibility of the necessary processes and equipment. We have worked together with expert companies in different sectors.

We have started the deployment of industrialization for the new SHE technology, with the goal of turning a semi-automatic production plant into a reality (TRL9).
Once defined the most important equipment, we have figured out different ways to deploy them with the aim to optimise costs of manufacturing line.
Task 3.1. Review of offers/suppliers and purchases.
First we had to find suppliers capable of offering us the solutions we were looking for. Then we have gathered different offers and quotations from suppliers, reviewed of all offers and made assertive negotiations.

To introduce the SHE collector to the market, we followed a commercial roadmap, starting by increasing general awareness of hybrid panels in order to have a more receptive market for the new technology
A marketing plan has been designed that is directly linked to the commercial plan
Task 5.1. Communication activities.
Some of the online actions being carried out are: implementation of English and French in our blog, some publications per week in social media, online advertising, publications and interviews in generic and specific media, including newspapers, magazines, radio and television. We made a webinar plan with 2 webinars per month.
Presence in Events. In 2020, given the pandemic situation due to COVID-19, the four face-to-face fairs that Abora had planned to attend, were cancelled. But we have planned fairs in 2021.
Task 5.2. Update commercialisation Plan
We maintain continuous tracking of potential markets to focus our commercialisation plan, and are working in assessment the best strategy to internationalise the company.
Task 5.3: Project management and IPR.
The management of the project has been extraordinarily strange, with the start of the project coinciding from the beginning with the Covid-19 pandemic and in Spain with States of Alarm,
In relation to the protection of IPR the EPO has granted us inventive capacity for the SHE panel in preliminary examination.

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 present technology has reached its limits and we need to completely reinvent the materials and processes used to manufacture hybrid solar collectors.
We break with the traditional concept in PVT technology of joining PV panels and ST collectors and we create a new hybrid solar collectors from scratch under the vision of going to the essential principle of transforming irradiation into heat and electricity. This process is what gives our technology its name, simply:
Solar, Heat & Electricity (SHE)
SHE project goes beyond state-of-the art in the following ways:
• Increases thermal and electrical energy efficiency due to direct contact between PV layer and absorber.
• Extends lifetime of collectors, and consequently the energy yield due to reduction of stress on materials and the suitability of all materials used to withstand high temperatures resulting from high thermal efficiency
• Energy and raw material cost savings in manufacturing process due to lack of furnace, less material, and short time.

Product 2

Product 1