Programm Photovoltaik Ausgabe 2009 ... - Bundesamt für Energie BFE

ULTRALIGHT PHOTOVOLTAIC
STRUCTURES
Annual Report 2008
Département fédéral de l’environnement,
des transports, de l’énergie et de la communication DETEC
Office fédéral de l’énergie OFEN
Author and Co-Authors Y. Leterrier, J. Rion, L. Lalande, P. Liska, A. Vasilopoulos
Institution / Company EPFL
Address LTC, Station 12, 1015 Lausanne
Telephone, E-mail, Homepage +41 (0) 21 693 48 48, yves.leterrier@epfl.ch, http://ltc.epfl.ch
Project- / Contract Number CTI 8002.1 DCS-NM
Duration of the Project (from – to) 01.01.2006 – 31.12.2008
Date 15.12.2008
ABSTRACT
The objective of this collaboration between five EPFL labs (LTC, LPI, CCLab, ICOM, CMCS) is to
develop lightweight (< 1 kg/m 2 ), efficient and enduring prototype photovoltaic (PV) devices based on
novel multilayer composite structures. The key innovation lies in the functional integration of the solar
generator within a lightweight structure. The first application of these PV devices is the Solar Impulse
airplane. Two technologies were initially considered: monocrystalline Si cells for the upper airplane
skins and dye-sensitized cells (DSC) for the bottom skins. The company VHF Technologies joined the
project on Oct. 1 st , 2007, in order to develop a profiled lamination process for thin film flexible amorphous
Si cells in the field of building integrated PV. The research focuses on the key materials and
reliability issues needed to adapt these lightweight PV devices for specific application criteria. Attention
is paid to the development of i) process methods to minimize weight without compromising PV
efficiency, ii) textured polymer encapsulation and iii) production of lab-scale demonstators based on
c-Si, DSC and a-Si devices integrated in a variety of polymer composite laminates.
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