A dedicated test field for integrated solar panels
Solar panels are no longer confined to rooftops. They are increasingly integrated into canopies, façades, noise barriers and agricultural applications. These kinds of building-integrated and application-specific photovoltaic solutions require a different approach, both in design and in reliability testing. That is why, through the IN2PV project, EnergyVille is developing a dedicated test platform at Thor Park in Genk, together with Soltech, a Belgian manufacturer of integrated solar building solutions.
The 55-are site will allow new integrated solar technologies to be tested and monitored in a controlled outdoor environment. The focus is on full-scale applications, including free-standing structures, where performance, stability and mechanical loads can be assessed over longer periods of time. The field is equipped with advanced measurement systems combined with detailed meteorological data.
IN2PV also helps build the infrastructure needed to scale up next-generation solar technologies, including thin-film materials such as perovskites. Through automation and process optimisation, solar panels of commercial scale can be made more efficiently and more reliably. Combined with the new test infrastructure, this will bring integrated photovoltaic solutions closer to large-scale application.