FabriGen · Fabric structures for solar power generation

The proposed project: Fabric Structures for Solar Power Generation (FabriGen), addresses the need to bring innovative products to the solar energy market to achieve the ambitious European targets for renewable energy generation. The FabriGen project aims to combine organic photovoltaic (OPV) materials with tensile fabrics to enable the construction of solar-power generating fabric structures. These structures could be connected to the grid, or used for distributed power generation, and will enable generators to participate in Feed-In-Tariff schemes that are being offered to promote the uptake of renewable energy technologies.The FabriGen project will research the use of commercial roll-to-roll printing technologies to deposit and pattern state-of-the-art OPV materials and produce large-area PV modules (20cm in research, scaling up to 100cm roll width). Means to integrate the PV fabrication processes with polyester fabric membranes will be developed. A key aspect of the research will be development and integration of barrier and encapsulation layers to provide long-life performance needed for outdoor use. The use of innovative materials to give enhanced UV response and improved resistance to UV degradation will be researched. Compliance testing to EN61646 will be carried out on fabricated PV modules to prepare for microgeneration certification and exploitation in the market.