US research lab and Vitex join forces on solar roof tiles

2009-06-08T00:00:00-00:00

US government research lab, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), and California start-up Vitex Systems are joining forces to develop photovoltaic roof tiles.

Building-integrated photovoltaics, or BIPVs, could replace today’s solar panels, which are large, expensive to install and can be unsightly. Flexible solar tiles or shingles could be much cheaper to install and less visible.

But such solar shingles would have to be robust enough to last around 25 years. So researchers at PNNL and Vitex are turning their attention to an encapsulation process used to coat flat panel displays that contain organic light-emitting diodes.

The encapsulation process and barrier film are already proven to be an effective moisture barrier, but the research will have to find a way to apply the technology to photovoltaic devices based on copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) or cadmium telluride (CdTe). Testing will evaluate whether the barrier technology is robust enough to survive the natural elements over a long time period.

“Flexible solar panels could easily become integrated into the architecture of commercial buildings and homes,” says Mark Gross of PNNL. “There’s a lot of wasted space on rooftops that could actually be used to generate power.”

The project is receiving $350,000 from the Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Technology Commercialization Fund, matched by the same amount of support from Vitex in labour, equipment and materials.

For further information:
www.pnl.gov/
www.vitexsys.com/
www.energy.gov/recovery/funding.htm

Afion Media Ltd

US research lab and Vitex join forces on solar roof tiles