AP.1 
PV Everywhere

Today we well start our “Sneak Preview” with the Plenary on Monday, 22nd September. This is very first event of the EU PVSEC conference week, and we would certainly like to see everyone there at this early time of the day. The theme “PV Everywhere” points to our commitment to PV Technology: never before have applications been so rich and yet affordable, encouraging innovative ideas across the globe.

We start Monday morning with a plenary talk about requirements when PV will really be everywhere. Uwe Rau of Jülich Aachen Research Alliance in Germany, will give us an Outlook Into PV Growth Beyond Grid Flexibility via Integration with Storage and Fuels. This talk is nothing less than imagining PV as a main power source in a highly industrial country which is very concerned about a dunkelflaute (timespans where is no wind and no sun). What would we need to really overcome this last big problem which stands in the way of further PV growth? How do we store summer-electricity also for the winter, and where? The team promises to show the approaches and results of their re-examination of these issues, and estimate that a very decentralised approach might be the best option, as it could enhance system efficiency, resilience and societal acceptance of large-scale PV. The size of such de-centralised storage would range from module-integrated batteries up to large electrochemical CO2 reduction for eFuel products. In the talk, there will be recent results from testing these materials under dynamic operating conditions representative of real PV output presented.

The second plenary talk is titled Agrivoltaic System Potential to Mitigate Effects of Climate Change in Viticulture, our tribute to this very fast growing application of PV. This talk was chosen,vas it so clearly demonstrates that Agri PV is not just about mounting arrays on farmers land because we´re running out of space, no, it underlines that it will be increasingly about protecting our vulnerable, highly efficient agricultural system from the detrimental effects of climate change, in a way a perfect synergy of mitigation and adaptation. The talk by Natalie Hanrieder of the German Aerospace Center describes the effects of draught and uncontrolled rain on vineyards in Spain, and on Germany on the other side of the climatic spectrum with heavy showers, thunderstorms and hail in addition to low winter temperatures. Agri-PV installations can help to protect crops by reducing heat stress, lowering soil temperatures, minimising evaporation, and maintaining soil moisture. Additionally, they could be connected to irrigation reservoirs and reduce soil erosion. Based on these insights, a modeling approach was selected which takes into account weather time-series since 1970 and adjusting them to three Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP) models to get as close as possible to a description of what our agriculture can expect during the decades to come. The potential of Agri-PV systems to mitigate these climate change impacts across different zones will be presented at the conference. Can we guess the result already?

Now. to a completely different application of PV, truly underlining our “PV Everywhere” Monday morning. Certainly, the very technical title Micro-concentrator photovoltaics for deep space missions: overcoming LILT challenges with high-specific-power solar arrays shows already the wide range topic this talk by Guido Vallerotto of the IES, UPM Madrid will talk about. As “LILT” means low-intensity, low temperature conditions we get already curious: how low-intensity? Well, with 10 W/m2, it is definitely almost moonlight. Low temperature? They are talking about -190 deg C, also far below our usual Standard Test Conditions. And we thought all problems with PV are resolved. No, PV shall power a Spacecraft (certainly eliminating nuclear batteries) bound for the outer solar system for potential signs of habitability. Just making the solar area larger is no option, the low temperature brings the Fermi-level to its limits… The solution developed by the collaboration between Spanish research, space technology groups and the European Space Agency ESA is applying micro-concentrators (10X) manufactured in a mold for later mating with the 3-junction solar cell. Concentrators can become mission enablers by increasing the operating temperature and light intensity on the cell. Two concepts are analysed in terms of acceptance angle, adhesion, optical performance and shrinkage. We will be informed by the presenter about the winning concept, and highlights of weight and volume, critical for deep space missions.
This talk will certainly show us how our decades of knowledge gathered in concentrators, triple-junction cells and space power is pushed to its limits.

..And when this mission flies beyond Saturn and Jupiter, discovering maybe intelligent life on an exoplanet, the most curious question remains: do they make solar cells better?

Did you get an appetite by our Monday plenary sneak review? Stay tuned, we will continue soon with the many Wednesday plenaries preview.

Do not forget to check the permanently updated programme at https://userarea.eupvsec.org/programme/

Plenary Summary by
Heinz Ossenbrink
Former European Commission Joint Research Centre