European Commission, Research, development and demonstration on photovoltaics within the European Union

European Commission
Research, development and demonstration on photovoltaics within the European Union
Rolf Östrõm, Scientific officier, European Commission, DG Research
Pietro Menna, Responsible for the solar sector, European Commission, DG Energy and Transport

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General Framework

The policy objectives of the programme of research into sustainable energy systems include reducing greenhouse gases and pollutant emissions, increasing the security of energy supplies, improving energy efficiency and increasing the use of renewable energy. In addressing these objectives, a differentiation is made between research activities having the potential for exploitation in the short to medium term and those which are expected to have an impact in the medium to longer term. Through a series of RTD framework programmes (FP), the European Commission has been supporting research and development in the Photovoltaic sector in Europe for more than 20 years, and has been instrumental in providing a framework within which researchers and industrialists can work together to develop new applications for the Photovoltaic technology. Through a series of RTD framework programmes (FP), the Commission has maintained long term support for the development of the full range of PV devices, including crystalline and thin film solar cells, PV modules and balance of systems.
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5th Framework Programme (1998-2002)

In total more than 100 projects were started between 1999 and 2003 in the Photovoltaic sector within the 5th Framework Programme. In the short to medium term timeframe, 40 projects have been launched in Europe, for a total cost of more than 150 MEUR and an EC contribution close to 45 MEUR. The lion's share of the resources (51 %) has been dedicated to projects aimed at demonstrating the economies of scale which are achievable for grid-connected PV systems when developers, utilities and building industry work together with the public authorities, from the planning phase of the project. The second most important component (more than 19 %) has been for demonstrating innovative concepts for better integration of PV into the built environment. Large, MW size grid connected plants, and balance of system developments absorbed almost 17 % and 9 %, respectively while supporting actions for education, dissemination and studies took almost 4 % of the contribution.

The activities with an expected impact in the medium to long term correspond to more than 60 projects with over a 65 MEUR contribution. The main areas of medium to long term PV research were:

Low-cost and high-quality silicon feedstock;
Optimization of crystalline silicon process technologies, with particular emphasis on cost and efficiency of wafer cell production;
Thin-film technologies: highly efficient mass production plus an understanding of material limitations, aimed at reducing costs; Innovative concepts for PV cells and modules which have a potential for large cost reductions);
Research on reducing the cost of other new and innovative components and systems.

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6th Framework Programme (2003-2006)

Photovoltaics development continues to be supported in FP6 through both research and demonstration actions. Under this programme, the focus has been put on the development and demonstration of integrated approaches for new system design options and concepts, with a stronger emphasis on cost reduction.

In the short to medium term, priority has been given to:

Innovative production concepts for high efficiency cells/modules to be integrated into larger scale photovoltaic production facilities to lower the cost; and including low cost integrated components or devices for grid connected or stand-alone PV generators;
Support actions aimed at kick-starting Si-feedstock production by EU industries to secure a reliable and affordable supply for fostering PV cell cost reductions;
Transfer to industrial scale of a new generation of PV technologies/products to facilitate the integration of innovative solutions at lower costs;
Large area, low cost photovoltaic modules for building integrated PV and autonomous solar electricity generation systems in industrialized and developing countries;
Integration of photovoltaic installations in generation schemes to feed local distribution grids, closer to the point of use and development of new devices and systems to manage these installations.

At the same time the medium to long term part of the programme has focused at:

Innovative concepts and fundamental materials research for the next generation of PV technologies;
Thin film PV technology (development of cost-effective PV cells and modules based on new and improved technologies and materials);
PV processing and automated manufacturing technologies (to reduce the costs and improve materials usage in the manufacture of PV cells and modules);
PV components and systems - balance of systems (research into components and their integration into the overall system) and the research for innovative applications of PV in buildings and the built environment (to develop integrated PV module systems which are configured for ease of mounting on building roofs and facades, hybrid PV/heating systems).

From the proposals received under the first FP6 Call, nine new PV projects have been launched, for a total cost of 78 MEUR and an EC contribution of nearly 42 MEUR. Among them, PV MIPS, in the short to medium term programme, is an integrated project aimed at the development and demonstration of a new generation of PV modules with integrated power conversion system, to reduce the cost of the electricity generated by grid-connected systems. The project outcome embraces the high-voltage module with integrated inverter without transformer. This approach offers tremendous advantages when used with high-voltage thin-film modules. For crystalline silicon modules an integrated, two-stage inverter is also being developed and demonstrated within the same project The research will have a strong focus on building integrated PV, because the potential for these applications is especially high in the dense populated areas of Europe.

For the medium to long term programme it is well justified to specifically mention the two integrated projects CRYSTAL CLEAR and FULLSPECTRUM. CRYSTAL CLEAR deals with crystalline silicon photovoltaics, and the objectives are: research, development, and integration of innovative manufacturing technologies which allow solar modules to be produced at a cost of 1 EUR/Wp in next generation plants; improvement of the environmental profile of solar modules by the reduction of materials consumption, replacement of materials and designing for recycling; enhancement of the applicability of modules and strengthening of the competitive position of photovoltaics by tailoring to customer needs and improving product lifetime and reliability. The aim of the project is to enable a price reduction of grid-connected systems to a level of 3 EUR/Wp or even less, which roughly corresponds to electricity generation costs of 15 to 30 eurocents per kWh, depending on location in the EU. This is an improvement of 50 % over the present situation.

The project FULLSPECTRUM pursues a better exploitation of the FULL solar SPECTRUM by further developing concepts already scientifically proven but not yet developed and by trying to prove new ones in the search for a breakthrough in PV technology. More specific objectives are the development of:

III-V multijunction cells (MJC);
Solar Thermo-photovoltaic (TPV) converters;
Intermediate band (IB) materials and cells (IBC);
Molecular-based concepts (MBC) for full PV utilization of the solar spectrum;
Manufacturing Technologies (MFG) for novel concepts including assembling.

Much of the research in this project is long term, but some is medium term with commercial results possibly visible at the end of the project. The final aim is making PV cost competitive with prevalent electricity.
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Technology platform on photovoltaics

A Conference for preparing the launch of the Technology Platform on Photovoltaics and to discuss the report A Vision for Photovoltaic Technology was held in Brussels on Sept 28, 2004. A technology platform is an instrument which the Commission has devised to stimulate public-private partnerships between the research community, industry and policy makers with the aim of mobilising greater research and innovation effort. The elaboration of the Strategic Research Agenda is an essential part of the Vision report prepared by the Advisory Council². The setting up of the Steering Committee for the PV Technology Platform is now under way.

The expected impacts of the platform include:

raise overall RTD investment;
identify and address obstacles to deployment at EU, national and regional levels;
facilitate and accelerate the market penetration of PV technologies.

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Footnotes

The word “research” used in the general sense refers to research, technological development and demonstration activities.
A Vision for Photovoltaic Technology for 2030 and Beyond, preliminary report prepared by the Photovoltaic Technology Research Advisory Council (PV-TRAC), available on line at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/energy/nn/nn_rt/nn_rt_pv/article_1265_en.htm

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