Growing high-efficiency coloured photo voltaic panels for buildings

The vitality transition in Germany, Europe, and around the globe is driving robust demand for photo voltaic panels. Along with excessive vitality yield, aesthetics and acceptance are crucial elements. To accommodate these traits, a gaggle of researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE has developed a brand new photo voltaic facade component that may be connected to the outside of a constructing virtually invisibly and with out trigger a lack of effectivity.

With the event of MorphoColor coating know-how, consultants have made an essential contribution to the enlargement of built-in photovoltaic methods in Germany. For this groundbreaking venture, they are going to be offered with the Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize for 2024.

Photovoltaic methods usually are not a well-liked design function amongst architects and constructing house owners. The researchers Dr. Oliver Höhn, Dr. Thomas Kroyer and Andreas Wessels from Fraunhofer ISE, based mostly in Freiburg, plan to vary that by growing fantastically coloured photo voltaic panels with angularly secure, saturated shade with minimal effectivity loss, in order that they are often built-in virtually invisible within the exteriors of the constructing.

Inspired by morpho butterflies

There are two essential causes for photo voltaic panels for building-integrated photovoltaic use. First, they need to work optically like a standard shade component, and second, they need to nonetheless produce as a lot energy as potential. To meet this problem, researchers appeared to nature for inspiration—and located it in morpho butterflies.

“The 3D photonic buildings of the wings of the morpho butterfly enable for an intensive, angularly secure shade impression because of a essentially small lack of interference impact,” explains Kroyer. Following this organic mannequin, consultants from Fraunhofer ISE succeeded in utilizing a vacuum course of to make use of the identical floor construction on the again of the glass that covers their photo voltaic panels. Depending on the wonderful construction, this methodology can be utilized to make glass covers in several colours.

The coating system for coloured photo voltaic panels now surpasses the organic mannequin when it comes to its properties. “Independent measurements show that coloured photo voltaic panels with MorphoColor coatings can obtain about 95 % of the facility of the same uncoated panel,” explains Wessels. That makes MorphoColor know-how far superior to all different comparable applied sciences out there available on the market.

MorphoColor know-how: A flexible plug-in resolution with potential for the long run

The plug-in resolution can be utilized in all normal commercially out there photo voltaic applied sciences in addition to these discovered sooner or later, and it may be produced within the business at low price. Cell and panel applied sciences with the identical look are a greater match. It consists of again contact photo voltaic cells and the shingle matrix know-how additionally developed at Fraunhofer ISE—an meeting methodology paying homage to a brick wall.

“In the shingle matrix know-how, the conductive adhesive bonding of the photo voltaic cells eliminates the necessity for reflective metallic connectors between the cells, resulting in a homogeneous look. That signifies that the photo voltaic cell know-how stays utterly non may be seen behind the coloured layer. And that in flip permits an aesthetically pleasing and full visible integration into facades or roofs,” Höhn defined.

The MorphoColor trademark has been registered within the EU, Switzerland, China, the United States, Japan, and South Korea. A license was granted in 2023 to Swiss-based Megasol Energie AG, a number one European producer of photo voltaic panels and roof and facade set up methods that’s at the moment constructing the MorphoColor know-how available on the market.

The integration of photo voltaic panels in autos is one other promising subject of growth. Fraunhofer ISE offered glass car roofs and hoods with built-in MorphoColor photo voltaic panels on the IAA automotive commerce present. All main German automotive producers have proven nice curiosity within the new know-how.