Developing Unique Solar Panel Technology for Energy Autonomous Greenhouses and Building Applications

About this project

<p><span style="font-size: 11pt"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="color: #000000">Greenhouse farming is a potential solution to the worldwide food demands, as it can increase the food production up to 1000% per hectare, compared to open field agriculture, while at the same time reducing the amount of water needed to grow crops by 900%. However, greenhouses require additional energy for heating, cooling, ventilation, and pumping, which represents 25% of the total operating costs. Reducing this cost is therefore an interesting value.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11pt"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="background-color: #FFFFFF"><span style="color: #212529">Brite Hellas S.A. will develop a transparent solar glass (mean transparency of at least 70%). </span></span><span style="color: #000000">The solar glass will have viable applications in greenhouses to generate electricity while also allowing light to pass through (as the panel is only party covered by silicon PV cells). To produce the solar glass, the glass is first coated with a nanocoating that BriteSolar has developed and patented and then the glazed glass is used to manufacture PV panels. The project included the fine tuning of the proprietary nanocoating to allow for a uniform transparency in the visible light spectrum and to shift UV light to visible (therefore improving the PV's efficiency) as well as modifications of the glass to produce a panel of reduced thickness (to permit retrofitting in existing greenhouses) and to reduce the overall cost. The finalized product was pilot-tested in a greenhouse of 1,000 sqm in Ptolemaida, to validate the technology in a relevant operational environment.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11pt"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="color: #000000">The projects Norwegian partner, BOOST, who works within the field of innovation, especially with knowledge to international markets, will contribute to the project with a scale-up plan.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11pt"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="color: #000000">The project will result in 8 new jobs created, one IPR and increased revenues and competitiveness for Brite Hellas S.A.</span></span></span></p>

Bilateral cooperation results

The bilateral partner (Boost) developed a scale up plan for the production of the Solar Glass. It was a contractual based collaboration, that is not likely to continue after the project.

Project partners

• Boost Global Innovation AS Donor project partner· Norway