It was inaugurated and is operational on laboratory by Eurac Research, created with funds PNRR assigned to NEST Extended Partnership – Network 4 Energy Sustainable Transitiondesigned to support companies in the development of non-standard photovoltaic modules. The conference of Italian photovoltaic network, organized this year by Eurac Research in Bolzano, was the opportunity to officially present the laboratory. The event brought together around 250 people in Bolzano representing companies, professionals, associations and research centers active in the solar sector, as well as representatives of spoke 1 “Solar” of the NEST Foundation.
Francesco Cupertino, rector of the Polytechnic of Bari and president of the Board of Directors of the NEST Foundation
From today we have a new tool to strengthen public-private research in the field of renewable energy, a pillar of the country’s transition to a sustainable development model. Thanks to PNRR funds we are helping to build a national network of cutting-edge infrastructures, such as the Eurac Research laboratory, in which to bring together multidisciplinary knowledge which will be invaluable for achieving the major objectives of the coming years and which will also go beyond the PNRR itself . The collaboration between universities, businesses and research institutions allows us to build an Italian ecosystem of innovation and knowledge more quickly. This collaboration model will be the key to success for the development of new technologies and skills that the energy transition requires, as well as a model to follow in the future, to keep pace with further developments.
How does it work
We start from the cells and the materials used to connect and protect them, and then arrive at a photovoltaic module prototype ready to be installed and tested. Thanks to this new infrastructure – which completes the series of Eurac Research laboratories in the photovoltaic sector – the renewable energy experts of the South Tyrolean research center can support companies at every stage of the supply chain: in the laboratory the characteristics of the starting materials can be analysed. , the effectiveness of combinations between components, assembling photovoltaic modules up to one square meter in a special oven. The infrastructure also allows us to test the prototypes produced, installing them on ad hoc structures, but also to study their integration into facades, roofs or other architectural solutions and into electrical networks.
To create a quality photovoltaic module prototype we start with a careful choice of ingredients. How much light do the layers that protect the cells let through? How do they behave with temperature and how quickly do they age? In the Eurac Research laboratory the materials can be examined in detail before being assembled and then we continue with the recipe. The cells are arranged on Teflon sheets and connected with conductive tape that will collect the electrical energy they produce. Then they are surrounded by so-called “encapsulants”, polymeric materials that have the function of protecting them. At this point the external layers are added: the support at the base and the covering glass which can be transparent or colored to better integrate with the architecture of the building. The module thus assembled ends up in laminator, an oven that must cook at the right temperature and only for the necessary time, so as not to damage the final product. Finally, the module obtained is also analyzed, in the laboratory but also in the external area reproduces a real system.
Applications from architecture to agrovoltaics
The laboratory is designed in particular to support companies in the development of customized modules designed to meet specific needs. They are for example modules with colored glassdesigned to best integrate into particular architectural contexts such as historic buildings, or modules intended for agrivoltaics which are installed on cultivated land and must therefore produce energy without completely shielding solar radiation towards the plants.
Wolfram Sparber, director of the Institute for Renewable Energy at Eurac Research
Photovoltaics is a key sector in future energy production scenarios. Production costs have dropped significantly and innovation is now needed to increasingly improve the products on the market. This infrastructure completes the range of testing and consultancy services that we can offer to companies: we can produce and examine module prototypes, measure their performance with accredited tests and subject them to accelerated aging cycles. We have the possibility of installing them on structures that reproduce buildings or complex facade systems, continue to monitor their performance and reliability and study their integration into electricity networks with different management and storage systems. The variety of tests we offer makes this laboratory unique in Italy and beyond.
