A PV module (left) and a place element without PV functionality (right)
Image: Fraunhofer Fep, Finn Hoyer
Fraunhofer FEP researchers develop aesthetically attractive finishes for BIPV. The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.
The design-PV project of the Institute Test Decorative Films for Systes, finished using Roll-to-Roll Nanoimprint Lithography (NIL). Fraunhofer FEP said that NIL surface topographs on polymer films manufacture with characteristic sizes of a few hundred nanometers to the millimeter range in a continuous roll-to-roll process.
Various designs made by Surteco GmbH, one of the five project partners, have been applied to PV-active and inactive systemes and tested by the Hamelin-based Institute for Solar Energy Research (ISFH).
Dr. Steffen Günther, project manager at Fraunhofer FEP, said that ISFH tests discovered that the PV modules with decorative finishes are visually indistinguishable from conventional users. “Depending on the finish, [the decorative modules] Reach up to 80% of the performance of uncovered comparison modules, “Günther added.
Fraunhofer Fep said that the glue strength of the decorative film on the front glass of the module and the metal layer of the façade elements has been an important challenge.
Researchers discovered that the coating must reliably comply with the ETFE film substrate (Ethylene Tetrluorethylene). ETFE must be specially treated before coating due to the low surface attachment. A plasma process has been developed to roughly roughly improve the ETFE interfaculus layer on a nanometer scale, which significantly improves the adhesion of the decorative layer, Fraunhofer Fep said.
The team said it is convinced that “these progress will contribute to further increasing the acceptance of BIPV solutions in architecture.” Design-PV continues to test extra designs and colors and assess the long-term and weather resistance stability.
In February a team of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) developed colored solar panels that can be integrated in the outside of a building while retaining a high efficiency.
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