PROMISE aims to create an alliance of photovoltaic excellence through scientific, engineering and research performance within the Maltese research community reliability of existing and emerging module technologies and systems, including the digitalisation aspects for prediction and optimisation algorithms for innovative solutions to support the energy transition. The Maltese research community, led by the Foundation for Innovation and Research – Malta (FiR) and supported by local technology innovator PIXAM Ltd. will stimulate scientific excellence and sustained collaborations with four world-leading research institutions AIT (Austria), CENER (Spain), CEA (France), and BI Becquerel Institute (Belgium), and Anhalt University of Applied Sciences (Germany) as the leading EU academic applied practice partner. In particular, PROMISE will perform two programmes in research and knowledge considering gender balance, early career researchers and sustainable development goals. The research framework includes a bottom-up approach for a Malta-based research platform on PV reliability, including infrastructure, data collection, analysis and modelling/verification through module test rig, satellite and drone vision technologies and an in-field database of solar module manufacturers. The knowledge gain and transfer framework includes capacity building activities, including a series of workshops, winter/summer schools, training programmes, internships, meetings, mentoring, and research management and administration upskilling. The PROMISE results, lessons learnt, best practices, and success stories will feed a scalability opportunity, extending the research platform to a nationwide/regional landscape while also generating concrete research capacity for a more enabling environment for research in PV reliability in Malta as a solar country and regional energy hub.

Europe's ambitious target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030 presents a significant challenge, and addressing it requires innovative solutions. The SPHINX project aims to accelerate the adoption of photovoltaics, the cheapest source of energy, by developing new photovoltaic products for integrated construction that are multi-functional, aesthetically pleasing, and have a minimal impact on resources such as land and materials. SPHINX aims to demonstrate solutions for an economic and sustainable integration of five innovative PV products in five respective demonstration sites covering different construction typologies: lightweight modules for installation on rooftops with weight constraints, tiles for heritage buildings, tiles for facades, semi-transparent modules for carports, and noise barriers. Each of these products will be piloted and monitored to demonstrate high energy production, low degradation rates, competitive installation costs, and a low environmental impact. To increase the efficiency of solar modules, SPHINX is leveraging a disruptive European interconnection technology known as matrix shingling. This technology improves the filling of the active area of solar modules, leading to a 3% increase in power output, and make them less sensitive to shading. This translates to up to 3 times more energy yield compared to standard modules under strong partial shading. Furthermore, this technology drastically reduces the use of resources such as lead and copper. To further enhance module performance, SPHINX will add new functionalities to the encapsulant, including UV selective absorption and reemission for power increase, selective reflection of IR light to increase bifacial boost, and reduce temperature behind the panel. New coatings will also be developed to provide anti-glare and anti-fouling capabilities based on a new deposition process that can be reapplied in the field in case of damage.

73% of the global CO2 emissions are generated by the energy sector (including transport and buildings). Electrification, combined with power generation using low carbon, renewable energy sources represent a viable path to tackle climate change. In this context, solar power represents today, not only the cheapest energy source, but also the quickest to deploy. Solar power installations, particularly PV have been growing exponentially, a trend which is expected to continue especially considering the fluctuating and volatile gas and oil markets. In an energy system, where solar photovoltaic power will represent the major energy source (potentially up to 69% of the global energy supply by 2050), the need to understand, improve and forecast the operations of PV plants becomes critical for the security and safety of the society. CACTUS proposes to improve the research infrastructure (RI) and its portfolio of services for an enhanced solar PV performance, particularly adapted for various climate conditions (such as tropical, desert, temperate), considering the whole lifetime of PV projects, from design, installation, operations, decommissioning and End of Life. This will be achieved by linking outdoor and indoor measurements with physical parameters based on material analysis, improving algorithms for O&M, developing common data treatment procedures, assessing sustainability related aspects, while enhancing bi-regional scientific cooperation (EU-LATAM) in the renewable energy sector.

VALHALLA will develop perovskite solar cells and modules with power conversion efficiencies above 26% (23% for modules) and an extrapolated lifetime > 25 years, guided by eco-design principles that decrease the environmental impact of perovskite photovoltaics: scalable production processes, no harmful solvents, optimised use of materials, circularity and recyclability. Only lead-based perovskites have demonstrated efficiencies and stabilities that enable to reach the targeted performance levels. Therefore, in VALHALLA we focus primarily on lead based perovskites. We will develop innovative encapsulation methods containing lead-chelating materials that detain all lead even in broken modules. Circularity will be demonstrated, including a full end-of-life recovery of lead. We will focus on vacuum and hybrid processing that eliminates the use of toxic and harmful solvents during production. To increase the range of application of this sustainable technology, VALHALLA will develop rigid, flexible and semi-transparent perovskites with three bandgap ranges together with their optimized charge transport materials. Understanding the degradation mechanisms of both cells and modules in outdoor operating conditions and developing meaningful accelerated indoor stability tests for perovskite will be a key target of VALHALLA. The approach to stability will be from a global angle, from the theoretical understanding of the role of perovskite defects, composition, and architecture on the intrinsic stability to the development of module encapsulation and interconnection design that will enable long operational lifetime. An energy yield assessment will be performed based on outdoor stressed modules in three different European locations.

NEXUS will accelerate Europe’s transition to clean energy by development of perovskite-Si tandem photovoltaics, via a new European paradigm: a global eco-design approach based on efficiency, cost, sustainability, circularity and social aspects, using abundant materials in the whole value chain. Our innovations will improve the PV Energy Yield per area, using sustainable, coherent and competitive European PV production, guaranteeing a clean energy transition and ensuring a secure and affordable EU energy supply. NEXUS will develop stable, 2-terminal perovskite-Si tandem solar cells with power conversion efficiencies >33% (modules >30%) and stabilities like state of the art single junction Silicon PV modules. We will develop these challenging targets following an innovative eco-design approach: employing solvent-free perovskite deposition, circularity, recyclability, improved simple manufacturing processes, to create a viable economic pathway for the European commercialization of this sustainable technology. Advances are based on development of high-performance, solvent-free, perovskite top absorbers, of conductive oxides based on earth abundant materials for different applications and the implementation of eco-design criteria for development of the bottom PV-Si cell, reducing its CO2 footprint. Thus we will achieve perovskite-Si cells and modules with a maximized power output of 210 kWh/m2. We will increase durability and sustainability in a novel silicon technology, while developing new approaches to deliver very high voltage perovskite solar cells with unprecedented resilience to environmental stress factors. We will demonstrate scalability and proof-of-concept equipment set for each step. NEXUS is a multi-disciplinary consortium: 12 partners from 9 European countries; 5 industrial partners (2 SMEs) & 7 Research & Technology organizations, covering the whole value chain of innovation from research centers to technology providers, end-users and market and policies.