Solar BEAT

Solar Building Elements Application Test Garden

Publieke samenvatting / Public summary

Aanleiding
The worldwide PV industry is shifting from a technology driven industry (solar cell technology push) towards a mature industry, driven by a market pull mechanisms asking for new and innovative PV applications.

Doelstelling
A prominent application is the development of Building Integrated PV products. These new BIPV systems include more functions than only the electricity production function: wind- and waterproofness, drainage, fire resistance, thermal- and noise insulation, stiffness and structural strength, etcetera… But also smart solutions to improve the functionality of the system in the built environment. Of course functional requirements of such new applications are much more complex than conventional solar electricity solutions and they also have to comply with more and other certification rules. All these new functionalities, norms and certifications ask for different and more stringent test facilities.

Korte omschrijving
In the Program Line “Solar Energy Systems and Applications” of the Innovation Contract Solar, specific BIPV projects have been submitted and more will be submitted. Many of these projects include a first field testing of an innovative BIPV system, i.e. a field test focused on performance analysis and executed in a BIPV Test Garden. The Solar BEAT project creates the generic common infrastructure to enable the other BIPV projects in the Program Line. It is aimed at the first operational assessment (field testing) of innovative BIPV systems.

Resultaat
A modular test garden will be erected to support, as a start, 5 different new product development projects and can be expanded further in the future once the concept has proven itself. After the project period, the test facility will be self-supporting.