PS-FP7 Performance improvement of glassblocks for the energy efficiency and new dry assembly system to build translucent, photovoltaic and prestressed façade panels (12 IT 532W 3NVX)

An Italian University proposes a project to design and build prototypes of innovative GlassBlocks (GB) with organic solar cells integrated to build translucent PV panels for façades and sustainable building envelopes. The improvement of GB's thermal and mechanical properties and the new "dry" assembly system let firms to produce new energy-efficient GBs and components fast to assemble, to build PV panels to be installed in façades, regardless their orientation. Co-development partners are sought

The project that will be titled GB-TRANSPAN (GlassBlock-TRANslucent PANels), DSC integrated, wants to deeply analyse the problems related to the improvement of glassblocks performance and its integration with the DSC technology in order to use them for the construction of translucent photovoltaic panels that can be used to build sustainable building envelope even in Mediterranean and Tropical Areas.
In 2020, the 38% of electricity produced will be renewable, according to the Road Map traced by EU. Among all the renewable sources, photovoltaics will have the largest rate of annual growth and it is expected to reach the 9% of the electricity produced by all sources of renewable energy. To reach those results, a lot of investments have to be made in the research for the development of new technologies and solutions, along with the improvement of the traditional ones. The third generation of PV, particularly the DSC (dye-sensitized solar cell) - based on the use of organic or hybrid (organic/inorganic) cells is one of the new frontiers, especially for the potential of a complete sustainability in terms of ecological and economical costs and for its particular affinity with the theme of building integration photovoltaics (BIPV). Currently, the DSC technology is probably the most appropriate for BIPV, in fact it is a multifunctional technology that unifies the photovoltaic module with the building envelope by providing it with several new functions - such as weather protection, thermal insulation, noise protection, shadowing - while producing, at the same time, a portion or a total building electricity usage and increasing not only the environmental, but also the functional and aesthetical building value. On the other hand glassblock is a high-performance type of glass in the field of sustainable architectural cladding. the process of deposition of the cells on the single glassblock for the construction of modules, their best position and the performance of this new kind of glassblock, DSC integrated, will be analysed in terms of transmittance, light transmission and aesthetical effects, with the aim to develop different prototypes.
The main innovation of the project is to apply organic solar cells on the glassblocks to build multi-functional PV modules that are suitable for the construction of translucent building envelopes with a high level of energy efficiency (ligh trasmission or protection -in accordance to the shape of the cells-; thermal insulation -in accordance to the number of cavities inside the glassblocks; electricity production -in accordance to the dimension of the PV modules, the shape of the cells and the kind of natural inks).
The searched partners should be:
- a SME that manufactures PV modules by printing organic solar cells on the glassblocks;
- a SME that manufactures natural inks by using the rejects of fruits and vegetables;
- a SME that manufactures plastic profiles for assembling the glassblocks into panels with a "dry" system;
- an RTD that analyses the energy performance of "modified" glassblocks, DSC integrated and PV modules.

Technical Specifications / Specific technical requirements:
The proposal will be submitted to the call: ENERGY.2: RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY GENERATION - AREA ENERGY.2.1: PHOTOVOLTAICS - ENERGY.2012.2.1.2: Demonstration of smart multi-functional PV modules. Deadline 8th March 2012.
The project budget available for the call is: 4 M¬
The consortium will be composed by 4 RTD partners and 4 SME with the following roles (type-country-role):
Some partners will be confirmed:
- RTD-IT- Design and simulation of "modified" glassblocks, DSC integrated; Dissemination of knowledge by means of ICTs
- RTD-UK- Laboratory test of "modified" glassblocks, DSC integrated. Control of mechanical resistance of PV glassblock panel
- RTD-M- Problem solving related to the deposition of organic inks for building the organic solar cells;
- RTD-SME- IT- Prototyping of "modified" glassblocks, DSC integrated
- RTD-SME-M- Laboratory test of PV glassblock panels
Partners to be searched are:
- SME- Analysis of the compatibility between organic inks and recycled glass in order to produce PV modules;
- SME- Prototyping of plastic profiles for "dry" assembling the PV glassblocks into the PV panels
- SME- Implementation of PV modules;
- RTD- Analysis of energy performance of "modified" glassblocks, DSC integrated and PV modules.

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