First Workshop on Identification of Future Emerging Technologies for Low Carbon Energy Supply

As part of the European Commission's internal Low Carbon Energy Observatory project, the Joint Research Centre is developing an inventory of future emerging technologies relevant to energy supply. A key part of this initiative is consultation with external experts. This workshop is the first step in this process. It targets two main energy research areas: electricity from electromagnetic irradiation (principally photovoltaics, but also thermo-electric concepts) and fuels (comprising fuel cells, hydrogen and biofuels). Issues of general interest are also considered. The goal is to identify innovative technologies and processes for energy supply, possibly not sufficiently considered in current research funding programs.JRC.C.4-Sustainable Transpor

Photovoltaic energy systems

This report outlines the European Commission's Joint Research Centre's contribution to standardisation activities within the field of Photovoltaic Energy Systems. The Joint Research Centre (JRC) continues to play a significant role in European and international standardisation activities within the field of Photovoltaic Energy Systems. In particular JRC experts are convenors for working groups in both the relevant IEC and CENELEC technical committees, were the project leader of one standards published by the IEC in 2019 and made a significant contribution to many others. JRC is also the project leader for two more standards which are currently subject to the standardisation process.JRC.C.2-Energy Efficiency and Renewable

Photovoltaic energy systems: Summary of the JRC's contribution to International and European standards in 2018

This report outlines the JRC contribution to standardisation activities within the field of Photovoltaic Energy Systems. The JRC continues to play a significant role in European and International standardisation activities within the field of Photovoltaic Energy Systems. In particular JRC staff are convenors for working groups in both the relevant International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) technical committees, and were the project leader of two standards (IEC 61853-3 and IEC 61853-4) which were published by the IEC in 2018. JRC is also the project leader for another 3 standards (IEC 60904-1, IEC 60904-4 and IEC 60904-10) which are progressing through the standardisation process and has made contributions to 24 others (as part of the various project teams).JRC.C.2-Energy Efficiency and Renewable

State-of-the-art for assessment of solar energy technologies 2019

To realize the EU target of energy transition to a carbon neutral energy system, wide scale deployment of photovoltaic solar energy is required. This report describes the contribution of the European Solar Test Installation to enable this transition.JRC.C.2-Energy Efficiency and Renewable

State-of-the-art for assessment of solar energy technologies

Photovoltaics (PV) are expected to make a major contribution to achieving European and global climate change mitigation goals over the coming 35 years. It is the renewable energy technology with the largest scope for cost reduction and efficiency gains, as well as exploiting the largest resource. The rapid technical evolution needs to be matched by standards to ensure the highest level possible of product quality, reliability and sustainability, as well as transparent market conditions. This requires reliable, reproducible and widely applicable measurement protocols for the assessment of electrical performance of PV devices of traditional as well as emerging PV technologies. The Joint Research Centre (JRC) plays a prominent role in developing, validating and implementing such measurement protocols, exploiting more than 35 years of expertise developed in the European Solar Test Installation (ESTI), the European Commission’s reference laboratory to validate electrical performance and lifetime of PV devices. The JRC works together with policy makers, industry and the research community to monitor the progress of PV technology and helps develop the solutions for the future. This directly supports the European Union’s objective of attaining an increasing share of renewable energies in the market (20% in 2020 and at least 32% in 2030). ESTI is an ISO/IEC 17025 accredited calibration laboratory. As such, it is involved in benchmarking, intercomparisons (bilateral and round robin (RR)) and proficiency tests to maintain and improve its measurement capabilities for solar irradiance and electrical performance of PV devices. The results of these international activities is directly used, mainly through the International Electrotechnical Commission’s Technical Committee 82 (IEC TC 82), as input for revision of existing standards or for development of new standards for assessment of the electrical performance of PV devices. This work concerns both measurement methods and PV technologies. Furthermore, ESTI actively promotes transfer of knowledge about the measurement procedures to the European and International research community, provides the PV traceability chain by generating PV reference materials for its partners and clients and offers verification of PV devices (mainly based on new technologies). In this report the activities of 2018 are summarised. Starting from the traceability chain of solar irradiance measurements according to international standards, the activities of ESTI in establishing the PV traceability chain at its own laboratory is outlined. Then the activities in international intercomparison measurements for the major instruments used in the traceability chain are described, starting from cavity radiometers and spectroradiometers to PV devices (both cells and modules). These serve to establish the traceability, stability and conformity of ESTI calibration measurements. This in-house metrology activity is then used to provide the PV traceability chain to clients and partners by generating reference materials, i.e. by calibrating PV cells and modules for them under the ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation as calibration laboratory. Another crucial activity is to verify those PV devices which claim to have achieved extraordinary performance, be it world record efficiencies or other performance beyond the usual. Last not least, the activities on measurement methods are described, which span from the actual development of new methods and their validation to their implementation into the ESTI quality system and ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation scope. Thereby, this annual report: — verifies the status of ESTI’s unique independent traceability chain for solar irradiance measurements; — summarises benchmarking activities with peer external international organisations; — summarises results of PV device calibrations performed for EU industry and research organisations; — provides an update on the adequacy of measurement methods used to assess the electrical performance of PV products and prototypes.JRC.C.2-Energy Efficiency and Renewable

Power matrix of OPV mini-module under steady conditions of temperature and irradiance at large-area solar simulator

The knowledge of electrical current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of photovoltaic (PV) devices under various irradiance, temperature, and spectral conditions is essential for evaluating the output power and energy production of the devices under various climate conditions. The methods to measure the temperature and irradiance dependences of PV devices power are described in the standards IEC 60891 and IEC 61853-1. Newer PV technologies like organic (OPV) and dye-sensitized (DSSC) devices are rapidly evolving and considerable research effort has addressed alternative approaches to increase efficiency with promising values achieved in the last years. Measurements of the irradiance (G) and temperature (T) dependence of these emerging PV technologies are less established –when available– than those of Si-based devices. In this paper we present a first attempt of power-rating measurement for an OPV mini-module. The measurements were performed with a large-area steady-state solar simulator on a reduced (T,G) range compared to what the standard IEC 61853-1 requires. Nevertheless, they were sufficient to calculate the relative temperature coefficients alpha and beta, which have been satisfactorily compared to previous published values. Also, they provided a first data set for the irradiance dependence of OPV device performance. Finally, the power matrix built from these measurements represents at our knowledge the first data set available for energy rating of OPV technology, as the matrix was done for a single device and for both irradiance and temperature dependencies together.JRC.C.2-Energy Efficiency and Renewable

Assessment of uncalibrated light attenuation filters constructed from industrial woven wire meshes for use in photovoltaic research

This paper describes the characterization of uncalibrated light attenuating filters, based on industrial metallic meshes. This work investigates the light attenuating properties as well as the influence on spectral energy distribution of woven wire meshes when used under simulated sunlight. These meshes have a high potential for use as attenuation filters for measurement of PV device performance at irradiances below the nominal simulator irradiance, based on the measurements and analysis presented.JRC.F.7-Renewables and Energy Efficienc

Power performance and thermal operation of organic photovoltaic modules in real operating conditions

Printed organic photovoltaics (OPVs) have moved beyond the research laboratory phase and have demonstrated their suitability to be upscaled for industrial manufacture. The improved efficiencies and increased lifetime testify the potential for this technology to compete with crystalline silicon–based technologies under some operating conditions. There are companies capable of producing large‐area OPV modules for outdoor installation. Examples of solar cell production on an industrial scale for energy production have been shown in the last 5 years. In this work, we present the performance data of a large‐area OPV module under operating conditions representative for real outdoor operation. This study focuses on the analysis of the thermal behavior of the module and shows how its performance can be affected by the temperatures it can reach outdoor under natural sunlight. A comparison of outdoor measurements with indoor data measured under simulated sunlight at several temperature‐irradiance combinations is also presented.JRC.C.2-Energy Efficiency and Renewable

ANALYSIS BASED ON I-V CURVE CHANGES OF ORGANIC PHOTOVOLTAIC MINI-MODULES SUBJECTED TO DEGRADATION UNDER DIFFERENT TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY CONDITIONS

Organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices represent a promising technology thanks to the improvements that have been achieved in recent years, peaking beyond 10% power conversion efficiency (PCE) and to the potentially high throughput and low cost production by using roll-to-roll printing techniques. Besides the improvements in conversion efficiency, it is fundamental to increase their lifetime in order for them to be commercially attractive. In order to study the stability of OPV devices, a round robin was organized in the framework of the SOPHIA project among several European research centres, for the characterization after exposure at different temperature and humidity conditions. While the purpose of the overall activity was to compare the results obtained by different partners, in this work we present an analysis based on the measurements performed at the European Solar Test Installation (ESTI) focusing on the degradation of electrical parameters (Isc, Voc, FF, Pmax) and on series and shunt resistances (Rs and Rsh) obtained by fitting IV curves with one and three diode models.JRC.F.7-Renewables and Energy Efficienc