Building-Integrated Photovoltaics via Modular Assembly of Solar Cells

• Autor(a) principal: Gonçalves, Rui Guilherme Vaz
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10362/162286
• topic: Solar electricity; electronics; modular inter-device connectivity; monocrystalline silicon solar cells; variable IV output; Domínio/Área Científica::Engenharia e Tecnologia::Nanotecnologia

This thesis introduces a novel modular photovoltaic assembly system with the potential to revolutionize solar electricity generation with a significant feature of this system being its variable IV output, enabling tailored power generation to meet a specific load requirement, which frees users from the conventional solar panels available commercially. Comprehensive testing, comprising both experimental Sun Simulator trials and simulations with software developed within the scope of this work, confirms the real-world viability of this technology. Notably, under shaded or malfunction conditions, the total cross-tied connection exhibits improvements of up to 20 % in max power compared to regular series-parallel circuits. The cell-to-module (CTM) loss in the active area of a commercial 60-cell solar panel is approximately 18 %, while our device experiences a slightly higher loss at 25 %. However, the advantages it offers in terms of flexibility and ease of assembly and disassembly, more than compensate for this difference. Through a rigorous iterative process involving design refinement, testing, and evaluation phases, this project contributed significantly to the advancement of innovative and customizable modular photovoltaic technologies, thereby enhancing accessibility to sustainable energy solutions.