When solar energy is mentioned, standard solar panels installed on roofs or open fields still often come to mind. However, this perception has slowly begun to change in recent years. Thanks to Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) systems, solar panels are no longer equipment added to buildings afterward but become an integral part of the facade, roof, or glass surfaces. The sector's next goal is to take this approach much further, transforming almost every surface, from vehicles to highways, greenhouses to infrastructure systems, into an energy production source. The European Union-backed SEAMLESS-PV project aims to establish the production and testing standards that will make this transformation possible.
The primary objective of the SEAMLESS-PV project is to ensure that integrated solar energy solutions, known as Integrated Photovoltaics (IPV), become suitable for mass production and commercial use. This is because one of the biggest obstacles facing these technologies today is not just high cost, but also the lack of fully established common safety standards, test procedures, and certification processes for different application areas. New technical reports prepared under SEAMLESS-PV aim to fill this gap.
Solar panels will not only be used on roofs
The standards developed within the project focus on four main application areas: buildings, transportation vehicles, infrastructure systems, and agricultural applications. This means that car roofs, highway barriers, noise panels, bridges, and greenhouses can also be transformed into active surfaces that generate electricity.
Researchers are not only focusing on electricity generation performance when developing these systems. Architectural design, ease of production, safety, longevity, and existing legal regulations are also considered from the initial stages of product design. The aim is for the developed prototypes to move beyond the laboratory stage and become products usable in real life.
Laboratory tests are not considered sufficient on their own
One of the striking aspects of the SEAMLESS-PV project is its adoption of a two-stage testing approach. While laboratory tests verify the necessary safety and durability criteria for products to obtain sales permits, outdoor tests reveal how these systems will perform over years in real environmental conditions. According to researchers, for large-scale investments, investors are not satisfied with just laboratory results. Energy production data obtained under real-world conditions and long-term performance results are crucial for proving the economic reliability of these technologies.
For this reason, developed IPV systems are monitored outdoors for months. During tests, numerous environmental data such as solar radiation, ambient temperature, panel temperature, humidity, and reflected light are continuously measured. The results obtained are then compared with traditional solar panels operating under the same conditions.
Different safety standards are applied for each sector
The products developed in the project are subject to different regulations depending on their application area. For example, fire resistance, structural safety, and electrical safety are prioritized for systems used on building facades, while passenger safety and automotive standards are considered for solar panels integrated into vehicles.
Among the prototypes developed under SEAMLESS-PV are new-generation solar panels that also prioritize aesthetic concerns. One of these is colored photovoltaic modules developed for use on building exteriors. These panels, unlike classic black solar panels, offer a more harmonious appearance with architectural design, while also featuring special coatings to reduce light reflections.
The project is also testing new BIPV modules developed for facade applications, utilizing high-efficiency G12 solar cells. These systems aim to provide both high durability and compatibility with building facades through a total thickness of 9 millimeters, using 4-millimeter glass on both sides.
Another notable development is lightweight composite roof coverings produced using the resin transfer molding (RTM) method. These solar-powered roof panels, approximately 600 × 700 millimeters in size and only 2 millimeters thick, can be more easily applied to curved and undulating surfaces.
The goal is to make the technology commercially ready
The main objective of the work carried out in the SEAMLESS-PV project is to bring the developed IPV technologies to TRL 6-7 (Technology Readiness Level). This level indicates that technologies have moved beyond the laboratory environment, have been successfully tested under real-world conditions, and are approaching commercial use.
According to researchers, with the establishment of standard production processes, completion of long-term field tests, and determination of common certification criteria, integrated solar energy solutions are expected to reach a much wider range of applications in the coming years. If these goals can be achieved, in the future, not only roofs but also building facades, vehicles, roads, and agricultural structures could be transformed into active energy systems that generate their own electricity.
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