ENcome participates in an innovative research project to develop a new generation of photovoltaic systems

 

ENcome announces the participation in the Lighthouse research project „Infinity“, investigating the climate sensitive long-term reliability of photovoltaic systems.

For the holistic research, five scientific research institutes and nine leading companies of the photovoltaic industry have gathered under the lead of Carinthian Tech Research AG (CTR). Several months into the three years project which started earlier this year, first results have already been achieved. The project is funded by the Austrian Klima- und Energiefonds.

„Our participation in the project aims to build up the basis for innovative photovoltaic systems which are optimized for specific climatic boundary conditions. Particular emphasis in the project ‘Infinity’ is on the holistic approach, encompassing the entire value chain from raw materials and components to operation and maintenance”, elaborate Dr. Robin Hirschl and Burkhard Söhngen, both managing directors of ENcome Energy Performance group.

The demand for photovoltaic plants has increased in the past years not only in central European latitudes. Particularly in existing and future growth markets as well as in remote areas, with by far not moderate climatic boundary conditions, such as deserts, tropical or alpine regions solar power supply is increasingly applies. However, today there is only one standard system for all regions, apart from the mechanical dimensioning of the mounting structure which is adapted to the relevant areas. More tailored systems that adapt to climatic or electrical infrastructure (i.e. grid) boundary conditions are not yet established. Even though some components would allow for a broader range of operational parameters, these are not commonly used yet. The project “Infinity” aims at closing this gap. The project team analyzes in detail how photovoltaic components, stand-alone and integrated in systems, behave in different climatic zones and grid boundary conditions. In a first step the consortium has already collected and classified a vast number of failures and issues of photovoltaic systems across the world.

The scientific results of the project will then be converted to new design approached to develop optimized climatic specific components, systems and services for photovoltaic power plants. From ENcome’s perspective particularly relevant are new insights and improvement of strategies for Operations and Maintenance in markets with challenging climatic or grid-resulted boundary conditions. For the Owners and Administrators of such plants in respective markets the results of the project will sustainably improve the longevity of their assets, reduce their system- and operational cost through improved preventive maintenance strategies and thereby guarantee longer and more constant revenue from electricity sales.

Background ENcome:

The ENcome group is a pan-European leading and independent provider for the operation of photovoltaic power plants with focus on technical Operation and Maintenance (O&M), technical Asset Management (TAM) and the compilation of technical expertise. At present ENcome operates power plants with a nominal capacity of several hundred megawatts in different countries. Well skilled engineers ensure the best yield for every renewable energy park in any grid environment. Furthermore ENcome offers other services along the asset lifecycle of photovoltaic installations partnering amongst others with renown law firms, tax advisers and security centres.