Cambridge based solar technology company Polysolar has developed a hi-tech photovoltaic glass which could be used at next year’s Olympic Games in London and also the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Polysolar’s transparent PV glass has been designed for use by architects in windows, cladding and glass structures as a way of generating green energy. The glass is already in use in other countries and is able to generate 100w of energy from each pane of glass making it an effective way of generating clean energy from wall and roof space.

Explaining the idea behind the glass, Hamish Watson the founder of Polysolar said,

“Our product is different from any other solar panel on the market, because it can be used as a building material, making it a highly cost effective integral part of the building. Unlike traditional solar cells, which need to be southward facing, the glass can be positioned anywhere, so is more flexible for large scale architectural and engineering projects and hence it generates a higher yield.”

Importantly, Polysolar’s glass has received MCS certification for the UK feed-in tariff. This means that where installed, landlords will be able to generate revenue from the energy which the panes generate which is used or fed back into the national grid. The Ploysolar product will also have the attraction that where installed, property owners will see massive reductions in their electricity bills. Aside from the obvious financial benefits, Hamish Watson is well aware that the green credentials of solar pv technology will be very welcome by event organising committees.

“Our PV glass has generated a lot of interest and we are in discussions to install it at the 2012 Olympic village, where it could be used to help generate power for information displays across the site. We have also had early discussions with the organisers of the 2022 World Cup and the developers of London’s Walkie Talkie building – both projects are obviously quite exciting for our company.”

Having just got back from Intersolar, Europe’s largest solar trade fair, I thought I’d give a round-up of some of my highlights from the show.

Thin film solar modules

I’m particularly interested in certain thin film modules that have now demonstrated their reliability and are starting to gain market acceptance. Some thin film PV companies have been around for over 20 years and many have fallen by the wayside. The surviving companies however are now looking very strong. Their products have now proven themselves in the lab and in the field, and the companies that make them have found ways to reduce production costs and improve efficiency. Thin film has inherently lower manufacturing cost than crystalline silicon, and the potential for efficiency improvement is greater. Therefore I’m confident that over time we will be seeing more thin film get installed.

Storage

A common theme of this years show is storage. Every inverter manufacturer had some kind of energy storage product on show this year. Most solar inverter manufacturers offer back-up energy storage systems that use batteries (typically Lead-acid or Lithium Ion). These provide day/night storage so that solar energy can be used after the sun has set in the evening. Batteries however are not great for storing energy over long periods, so they don’t solve the problem that more energy is produced in summer months than during the winter.

To deal with this problem, Fronius have unveiled their ‘Energy Cell,’ a hydrogen fuel storage system for the home. During the summer, an electrolyzer uses excess electricity from the PV system to split hydrogen from water and store it in a tank. During the winter, this hydrogen is then turned back into useful electricity via a fuel cell. The system has already been a prototype for several years, but this year’s Intersolar showed the system as being almost ready for the mass market. Of course the technology will start out very expensive, but it shows that solar energy can deliver constant power, and its only a matter of time before the cost of the technology falls.

How the Fronius energy cell works

Inverters

We spent some time with SolarEdge who have strengthened their product range and now offer a wider range of inverter sizes, all fully accredited for the UK. They have also been developing their system to be used on larger installations, so people may use them on commercial jobs as well from now in. They also launched a new solar ‘tetris’ game for Xbox Kinect – has to be seen to be believed!

Racking

Hilti have just launched their new flat roof mounting system and it looks amazing. It will make flat roof installations much more secure and manageable, and mean much lower risk of damaging the laminate. Also cool is this robot, used for cleaning solar panels on large arrays. It has 20 moveable sucker pads on the bottom that allow it to hop around cleaning the panels without falling off!

Solar panels cleaning robot

The Committee on Climate Change’s Renewable Energy Review, published today, lacks detail on the technical issues that are needed to help us meet our renewable energy targets according to Europe’s largest engineering institution.

Secure, low-carbon and affordable energy requires investment of £250bn, in electricity alone, if the Coalition is to meet the target of providing 30% of energy from renewables by 2020. This target is in danger of not being met due to lack of action being taken now to invest in a future smart grid that can intelligently connect users and suppliers.

Prof. Roger Kemp from the Institution of Engineering and Technology said: “The report takes a simplistic view of the subject and plays down technical issues. It refers to offshore turbines as having ‘very low running costs’ without factoring-in the potential routine maintenance of large structures in a highly aggressive environment and the lack of significant long-term operational experience in areas like the North Sea.

“When talking about wave energy, the report assumes that the limiting factor in adoption will be economics, while we consider that technical viability could be equally important.

“Demand response will have a central role to play, but the challenge of moving from the current ambition for smart metering to a smart grid with full public involvement is only hinted at.  The need to engage the public is crucial.”

There are many engineering and social issues to be resolved before the optimistic ambitions contained within this report can be achieved.  Its publication coincides with the publication of the government’s infrastructure adaptation report and combined they highlight the extent of the engineering challenges and opportunities presented by climate change.

www.theiet.org

Engineers are calling on the Government to increase the remit of the Green Investment Bank. The Coalition has signalled their intent to direct the Bank’s fund towards investment in low carbon technology. But, Europe’s largest professional group of engineers, the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), is arguing that the Bank should also support energy efficiency innovations in the manufacturing sector.

The investment mandate for the Bank is to deliver the Government’s aims on economic growth, facilitate the transition to a green economy and support the UK’s industrial transformation. Much of the focus to date has been on investment in the manufacture of low carbon goods and the rollout of green infrastructure.

Dr Tony Whitehead, Director of Policy at the IET said: “Energy conservation and efficiency should be amongst the first priorities of a sustainable energy policy.

“Energy is set to become increasingly expensive in the future, and to survive in the global market, UK firms will not only need to produce new products, but to produce them at competitive prices. This means driving costs down wherever possible.

“The manufacture of low carbon technology is often seen as a panacea to meet the UK’s carbon reduction requirements whilst at the same time creating a renaissance in UK manufacturing. Yet the manufacture of low carbon goods is not in itself automatically green. A green industrial revolution should first focus on greening manufacturing processes to reduce energy and resource use.

“For the UK to achieve its targets on carbon emissions there needs to be extra support for green manufacturing processes. Energy conservation and efficiency in the manufacturing sector should be a priority for the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills and more widely across government.

“In addition, access to the Green Investment Bank by SMEs will be paramount. SMEs are able to develop and commercialise products rapidly in niche areas. By its very nature, green technology and processes will require innovative solutions; an area where SMEs can develop a competitive advantage for UK plc. SMEs should have priority access to the Green Investment Bank to spur green growth and technology.”