Consortium
Established in 1999, 3E is an independent technology and consultancy company. Sustainable energy is their core business. 3E provides solutions as well as guidance to improve renewable energy system performance, optimize energy consumption and facilitate grid and power market interaction. 3E has worked in more than 40 countries. Our multidisciplinary and diverse team counts around 100 experts coming from 20 different countries all over the world. In 2009, 3E launched the new business unit Products to complement the existing Consultancy business. Today, 3E is operating several software products as a service (SaaS) under the brand names 3E Data Services, SynaptiQ and PV Health Scan. 3E operates from its headquarters in Brussels and offices in Paris, Toulouse, London, Istanbul, Cape Town and New Delhi. 3E is certified ISO 9001:2008 since 2010.
RESPONSIBILITIES: 3E will perform a context-sensitive PV plant component benchmarking based on monitoring data from over 6 GW of solar assets coming from more than 8,000 PV systems monitored through SynaptiQ. We will analyze the influence of different contextual parameters, such as micro-climate, environment, configuration, etc. and benchmark several KPIs for PV plant components working in different conditions. We will also extend our solar digital twin model by integrating BIM concepts and improving the compatibility with CAD systems further enhancing our big data analytics for performance monitoring intelligence.
Above is the solar industry’s leading aerial solar inspection and data analysis company. We pioneered the use of drone platforms fitted with sensing devices and dual imaging cameras to detect thermal and visual PV module anomalies across utility-scale solar plants. Above has inspected over 1000 assets and is supporting customers across six continents. It works with many of the world’s leading solar energy companies to provide interactive asset health reports and solar plant Digital Twins through its cloud-based software SolarGain.
RESPONSIBILITIES Above’s role in the project is to develop novel aerial inspection techniques which includes the design and implementation of UAVs and payload equipped with associated imaging systems for data collection. Above will develop methodologies for the image processing and analysis of collected data. Above will also contribute to establishing a digital twin concept of PV systems. We will work on the digitalisation of PV systems using 3D model and digital elevation data of terrains and system layouts.
BayWa r.e. Operation Services S.r.l (“BayWa”) is the Italian legal entity of the business unit “Services” of the German parent company BayWa r.e. renewable energy GmbH BayWa is a market leader in the sector of PV plants Operation & Maintenance, with a portfolio in Italy of hundreds of plants, exceeding 800 MW of installed capacity. With offices in Rome and Milan, BayWa has grown around the solid technical background of its original management team and has evolved into an organization aimed at optimizing on-site activities and the performance of utility-scale PV plants.
Inside the organization, the R&D team is constantly exploring all the innovations relevant for the sector, having the opportunity to test them in the numerous sites under management. BayWa’s contribution to this project is to demonstrate the positive impact that an O&M contractor can bring to the PV industry, through high quality on-site inspections and advanced performance assessment.
RESPONSIBILITIES The main role of BayWa in the project will be as tester and validator of the novel field detection techniques that will be developed, by acting as the bridge between the development phases and the proof of concept, going all the way until economic assessment and commercial deployment. The value of the presence of operators in the field is cornerstone for developing the concept of the combination of AI techniques with the human experience.
Covestro is part of the DAX, Germany’s leading stock market index, since 2018; with sales around ~10b€ each year within three operating segments Polyurethanes (PUR), Polycarbonates (PCS), and Coatings, Adhesives, Specialties (CAS). Covestro supplies a wide variety of industries with its innovative material solutions: Key customers include the automotive industry, construction, the wood processing and furniture industries, as well as the electrical, electronics and appliance industries. Products however are also used in other areas such as sports and recreation, cosmetics, or health.
RESPONSIBILITIES Specialist in the field of coatings for Solar applications. Responsible for the results related to aftermarket coatings for PV parks Yield improvements in WP2, applied in WP4 and WP7.
Endurans Solar’s mission is to create clean, affordable energy for all. A wholly-owned subsidiary of Worthen Industries, with production facilities across Asia, Europe and the USA, we apply our long-standing track record in polymer science, co-extrusion and solar technology know-how to develop and commercialize innovative materials solutions for solar panel manufacturers. The fully recyclable high-performance polyolefin backsheets feature the strongest core layer in the industry whereas the conductive backsheets enable high-efficiency and aesthetically pleasing solar modules based on back-contact technology.
RESPONSIBILITIES Specialist in the field of coating and backsheets. Responsible for the Result related to aftermarket coating and to the development of durable, sustainable, transparent backsheets for O&M friendly PV modules in WP2, applied in WP4 and WP7.
Enel Green Power is the company of the Enel Group dedicated to the development and management of power generation from renewable sources internationally. EGP operates more than 200plants in 30 countries in Europe, Africa, America and Asia, counting more than 7000 people, an installed capacity of about 40 GW, and an annual production of more than 90 TWh mainly generated from water, sun, wind, geothermal and biomass, able to avoid every year million tons of CO2 emissions into theatmosphere. In Italy EGP Company operates in the market of all renewable technologies, with a strong presence, however, in the hydroelectric and wind energy markets. EGP has a large expertise in PV markets worldwide and is active internationally in projects integrating large amounts of small-scale PVgeneration in the grid. EGP is also engaged in the production of photovoltaic solar panels, through its business line 3SUN, located in Catania. Currently, 3SUN is the main Italian PV factory and one of the biggest in Europe: starting from end of 2011, has produced more than 6 million of thin-film photovoltaic modules in multi-junction amorphous silicon, with annual capacity of 200MWp/y.
RESPONSIBILITIES Specialist in the field of turnkey solution from PV manufacturing to EPC. Responsible for the Result related to O&M friendly PV modules to be developed in WP2, tested in WP2 and delivered for field testing in WP7 to Italy and Cyprus. EGP will be also involved in activities related to novel plant layout (1500-3000 V) in WP2, BIM in WP3, inverter stability studies in WP5 and in the demonstration of technologies in WP7.
EURAC is an applied research centre located in Bolzano, South Tyrol. The Institute for Renewable Energy conducts applied research on advanced energy systems, based on or including sustainable energy sources. Its activities include national and international research projects, as well as direct cooperation with industry partners. The institute also supports the promotion of renewable energy technologies and assists political decision-makers with the scientific consultancy. Scientific results are based on laboratory tests of single components and integrated energy systems, as well as the monitoring of applied demonstration sites, experimental outdoor installations and residential buildings. The institute offers support also in the elaboration of complex energy models as decision support system for single energy systems or buildings as well as for urban and regional areas. The PHOTOVOLTAIC ENERGY SYSTEMS group focuses on the analysis of solar resources, performance and reliability of PV modules and systems and their integration into buildings and electricity grids.
RESPONSIBILITIES Coordinator of TRUST-PV. WP8 leader to track innovation and business models. Activities related to assessment of performance loss rates for more accurate yield and the use of optimization algorithm for best placement of PV modules. Contribution towards the improvement of the CPN methodology and the demonstration of the fully flexible and interoperable PV system concept. TRUST-PV Results will be tested in the outdoor test field with a maximal size of 40 kWp. Involvement for the development of the Decision Support System.
FOSS Research Centre for Sustainable Energy (FOSS) has been established in 2013 as a constituent part of the University of Cyprus (UCY). It plays a key role in cutting-edge research and technological activities on renewable energy sources (RES), grid integration of RES and smart electricity networks and related cross-cutting areas within Cyprus and abroad. FOSS has coordinated and participated in more than 80 European-, National- and Industrially-funded projects and has received in excess of € 20 Million in research funding. It holds a rich portfolio of projects with several awards, amongst them the project “SmartPV” that has been awarded with the “LIFE Citizen’s Prize 2019” and the environmental and sustainability prize “Energy Globe Award 2020.” The Research Centre for Sustainable Energy has been collaborating with numerous leading stakeholders in Europe; academia (universities and research centres), the public sector (ministries, regional governments, municipalities), the private sector (industry, companies, DSOs) and civil society (citizens, communities). FOSS is, among others, a member of the DERlab association of leading laboratories in the field of distributed energy resource (DER) equipment and systems, and EUREC which is the leading association representing research centres and university departments active in the area of renewable energy.
RESPONSIBILITIES FOSS Research Centre for Sustainable Energy will be R&D responsible for the interoperability in PV plants and components. FOSS will develop digitalised active PV-grid architecture data models for fully flexible and interoperable PVs. TRUST-PV Power Plant Controller (PPC) prototype’s interoperability will be tested in Cyprus in operational environment in a 20 kWp pilot test field.
Mainly known as information and communication technology (ICT) company Huawei is a manufacturer of PV inverters and PV related monitoring solutions. Huawei Technologies Düsseldorf GmbH has many different research groups in Germany and other European Countries. In Nuremberg/Germany we have the Power Conversion Technology Laboratory focusing on power electronics for various applications. The Research laboratory was
founded in September 2011 and mainly focusing on technology developments in the power electronic area typically in low voltage (less 1000V AC and less 1500V DC). One of the applications is the research in the field of PV Inverters from the residential to high power utility scale installations. The local research team explores applied new power electronic topologies for PV inverters and system architecture.
RESPONSIBILITIES Specialist in the field of inverters and storage solutions. Responsible for the innovation at inverter level to enable more cost-effective O&M field inspection to be developed in WP4 and demonstrated in WP7. HUAWEI will be working with EGP in WP5 to study inverter stability and with SOLARMONKEY to provide battery solutions for the residential sector. HUAWEI inverters and batteries will be used by EGP, EURAC and FOSS in the pilot sites.
IMEC is one of largest independent R&D centres worldwide in the field of nano-electronics, healthcare and energy. IMEC delivers industry relevant technology solutions leveraging its global industrial partner network. IMEC has more than 4000 employees, a budget of 600 M€. IMEC is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium has several campuses in Flanders and worldwide offices. The energy department within IMEC performs research on new materials, concepts for industry relevant photovoltaic cell and module technologies, solid-state batteries and power conversion approaches. Imec is also partner in EnergyVille, a collaboration between the Belgian research partners KU Leuven, VITO, imec and UHasselt in the fields of sustainable energy and intelligent energy systems.
RESPONSIBILITIES Imec’s Photovoltaic cells and module and energy systems teams are contributing to several workpackges. Imec is leading the WP2, contributing with development of physics-based PV system energy yield simulation, reliability modelling and nowcasting. Additionally, imec will further research PV module performance, energy rating and reliability characterisation approach in the lab and on the filed as well provide insights in sustainability consideration in procurement and O&M. Outdoor measurements of the selected next generation module technologies in a high accuracy setup will complete imec’s contribution.
INACCESS was founded in 2000 in Athens (Greece) by a group of seasoned Electrical and Computer Engineers with a singular focus on advanced solutions for an interconnected world.
After successfully developing and establishing a centralized platform for managing HVAC, diesel generators, power supply systems, and other electromechanical equipment for critical IT and Telephony network infrastructure of the Greek PTT, in 2005 the company expanded on providing solutions for remote management and monitoring of PV plants, mainly utility but also commercial and industrial.
After a decade of continuous growth and international expansion, today Inaccess is ranked as a 3rd company worldwide in terms of managed utility PV and Storage plants, with presence in >45 countries, >2500 sites and a total managed power of more than 21GWp. Today, 6 out of the world, top 10 renewables energy investors use the Inaccess platform, also Oil &Gas companies, Developers, Funds, EPCs, Equipment Manufacturers.
Inaccess already provides Inaccess has currently, more than 135 employees, based mainly in Athens but also in the USA, London, Brazil, Colombia, India, Nigeria, and Australia as well as an extensive partner network. Inaccess develops its own indigenous solutions, comprised of purposely developed HW, in-house developed embedded SW, communication infrastructure, Real-time streaming data, Big data-enabled Cloud storage and data analytics solutions, and WEB-based dashboard applications. Main product relevant to the project’s goals is the power plant controller (PPC), an embedded computer system responsible for the overall power control of the PV plant, and coordination with the Operator, including SCADA functionality, alarm monitoring, grid power quality monitoring, and dense/real-time data recording.
RESPONSIBILITIES Specialist in the field of stability at the point of connection and as such WP5 leader. Responsible for the development of innovation in Power Plant Controllers and VPPs which will be demonstrated in WP7.
INNOSEA is a technical engineering firm specializing in the field of marine renewable energies: offshore wind (fixed and floating), tidal energy, wave energy and ocean thermal energy conversion. INNOSEA is a spin-off company from the Ecole Centrale de Nantes, whose experience and work on marine energy has been recognized in France and overseas for more than 30 years. INNOSEA is an SME and now has a team of 30
people based at its headquarters in Nantes with an office in Edinburgh to support work in the UK market. INNOSEA provides technical expertise and multidisciplinary engineering services for offshore renewable energy systems and production farms with an aim to increase project profitability. INNOSEA delivers engineering solutions tailored to design devices and production farms recovering marine energy. INNOSEA’s team of MRE
experts includes engineers and PhDs with strong technical background in hydrodynamics, structure, geotechnics, aerodynamics, project development. Using numerical modelling of offshore structures for design and engineering phases is a key asset of the company. INNOSEA has been involved in more than 100MW of Floating PV projects to date, in Europe and in Asia. INNOSEA can act as Owner’s engineers, technical experts during due diligence and engineering partners for FPV plant design. INNOSEA’s expertise lies specifically within numerical modelling, mooring design and cost optimization at farm level (floaters, mooring and installation).
RESPONSIBILITIES Specialist in the field of floating PV both on lakes and seas and as such it will monitor the use of developed innovation for the floating PV sector and provide monitor data for benchmarking. Floating PV will be equipped with sensors for WP3 and INNOSEA will support EURAC for the extension of the CPN methodology for floating PV.
PVcase was founded in 2017 Vilnius, Lithuania. PVcase’s approach to utility scale solar layout design will become the new industry standard as the PV industry is forced to evolve in an environment with significantly reduced subsidies. Their focus on automation and accuracy from the very earliest stages of planning, incorporating 3D topographical data points to simulate the actual location of the solar plant, allows our customers to be able to compete for and win more projects by delivering greater yields. PVcase has already been used to design over 1 GW of solar projects globally and have customers in North America, Europe, and Australia. Several of these customers are among the largest solar companies in the world having already won projects based on PVcase layouts. PVcase automation software is just the first initiative as our extensive experience in the solar field has also revealed other opportunities to optimize and create efficiencies in other aspects of the evaluation and planning of commercial and utility scale PV projects. The industry is growing at an unprecedented pace, and PVcase is focused on providing solutions that will ensure accuracy in all aspects PV project evaluation and design.
RESPONSIBILITIES Specialist in the field of 3D modelling of PV plants and layout engineering. Involvement in the development of BIM solutions in WP2 and WP3.
Raptech was founded in 2005 by researchers from the Engineering Department of the University of Rome Tor Vergata. Our staff is highly qualified and specialized: Engineers and PhDs.
We offer technical support, monitoring and asset management systems for photovoltaic and wind generators.
We have internally developed a specific range of reliable and effective products, based on a multi-standard and multi-protocol approach, to get and collect data. The collected data are managed, analyzed and displayed intuitively on our Portals, accessible from a PC, Tablet or Smartphone.
RESPONSIBILITIES The main role of Raptech in the project will be the study of new wireless sensor networks using Narrowband IoT and 5G technologies, to be applied in the Monitoring PV systems
Reuniwatt is a global actor with a proven expertise in atmospheric radiative transfer observation and forecasting. Building on strong investments in R&D and scientific partnerships, we offer dedicated and reliable products and services for various sectors including renewable energies, meteorology and transportation.
Notably, Reuniwatt offers services for solar irradiance measurement and power forecasting, intended for renewable energy stakeholders: project developers, operations and maintenance professionals, asset managers, grid operators, off-grid actors, aggregators and energy traders.
RESPONSIBILITIES Reuniwatt is in charge of short-term forecasting solutions within TRUST-PV. We will provide irradiance and power production forecasts from a few minutes to a few days ahead using several methods: ground sky cameras developed internally and positioned on site, satellite images, numerical weather prediction models. We are the lead for Result 12: “Advanced Forecasting”.
Saidea is an IT service company which deals with the outsourcing of corporate information systems or, where there is already an internal IT department, offers its support with many services: from academy & consulting to specific functions as help desk, desktop management, software development and many others, offering also customized services for specific needs.
The considerable experience gained allows Saidea to create solutions that embrace different technologies, also through continuous research on the market for the best components and techniques. The acquired skills and the continuous formation allow the company to offer itself as the ideal partner for design, implementation and maintenance of complex technological infrastructures.
One of the main products offered is Antares, a platform for Service Management, developed on the basis of international standards and best practices, adopting an innovative approach in all areas of management according to ITIL guidelines. In Antares, data from business processes, infrastructure and users are continuously linked and Big Data analysis is functional and ease of use. Antares is equipped with an agent that can be installed on server and client in order to ensure a continuous monitoring and management of resources, optimize processes and carry out implementation activities and predictive maintenance.
RESPONSIBILITIES Saidea’s role in the project is to introduce an ICT solution dedicated to the PV sector based on Antares, to develop a new PV Operation & Maintenance decision-making platform, which includes the possibility to operate, monitor and create simulations on PV data. The objective is to develop the core algorithms for the DSS, relying on the results of the previous parts of the project. Antares will collaborate to the facilitation of the identification of a root-cause analysis and of performance issues. Furthermore, it will have a central role in calendarization and execution of processes during O&M tasks and activities.
SolarPower Europe is the voice of photovoltaics (PV) in Europe, with members active along the whole solar PV value chain and in neighboring business sectors. SolarPower Europe’s mission is to promote PV electricity in the European market and to give its global membership a strong and unique voice towards European decision makers. It develops targeted business intelligence on markets, industry and technologies, keeping its members and external stakeholders informed and up-to-date on the PV industry. The association also communicates the benefits of PV to key stakeholders – including EU decision makers & opinion leaders, the PV sector and the general public. SolarPower Europe takes part in several European funded projects. It is registered as an international non-profit making organisation under Belgian law.
RESPONSIBILITIES The EU leading trade association for the PV sector. Responsible for WP9 related to communication and dissemination and for the Project Advisory Board. SPE will support EURAC in WP8 for the exploitation plan and new business models.
In 2014, founders Mels van Hoolwerff and Jan Pieter Versluijs saw a rapidly growing yet inefficient solar energy market. They saw a big opportunity: enable installers to grow more quickly by simplifying their processes. This relentless focus made Solar Monkey the leader in solar panel software in The Netherlands. The innovative pv design software allows solar installers to design a full system remotely within one minute. This boosts their efficiency, which acted as a huge catalyser for the Dutch solar market. Every year, over 100,000 systems are designed with Solar Monkey. After installation, the performance analysis guarantees an optimal yield during operation. Currently, Solar Monkey monitors performances for a fleet of 7500 systems.Solar Monkey has a turnover of about €1M and a workforce which has doubled to 22 in 2019. In the near future, it aims to expand business throughout Europe, starting with the Belgian and Spanish markets in late 2019.During its existence, Solar Monkey has collaborated in many research and development efforts. There are close ties with the Sustainable Energy Technology Faculty at Delft University of Technology, at which several successful research internships have been completed. Additionally, in recent years a large innovation project was completed, in which Solar Monkey cooperated with the University of Utrecht, Delft University of Technology and Readar (a company specialized in extracting meaningful data from geographical data). Under the name PVISION and backed by a grant in the Urban Energy programme, progress was made to further innovate the design process and modelling of photovoltaic systems.
RESPONSIBILITIES Specialist in the field of solutions for distributed PV by developing innovative services in terms of design, yield assessment, monitoring and ancillary services. SOLARMONKEY will be involved mainly in WP3 for the development of techniques to assess the performance of residential rooftop PV plants based on neighbor performance. In WP5 together with HUAWEI and EURAC, SOLARMONKEY will study the use of storage for residential customer to provide new services.
Personnel who takes part in.
Founded in 1998, Solarcentury has been around since the early days of the solar industry and has been part of the evolution that has made solar electricity the mainstream energy source that it is today. We’re in business for a purpose: to make a meaningful difference in the fight against climate chaos through the widespread adoption of solar power.Solarcentury works end-to-end: developing, structuring finance, building and operating solar projects at commercial and utility scale. We’re committed to making solar more accessible and attractive. Solarcentury is a global business with operations across Europe, Africa and Latin America. To date we’ve developed and built 1.3GWp and have a pipeline of 6GWp. Our projects have saved over 1.7 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.
RESPONSIBILITIES The main role of Solarcentury is to guide, facilitate and contribute to the testing and demonstration of the solutions developed within the project and to ensure the reliability and continuous improvement of an advanced decision support system that will enable more and better performance monitoring and interoperability of PV plants. Solarcentury has developed and operated more than 1GW of solar plants worldwide and can contribute with significant expertise and real data for design variations, on-site operations, PV failures and advanced data analytics.
TU Delft is the largest technical university in the Netherlands. Founded in 1842, it has extensive experience in the research and development of all types of technical innovations. It is currently ranked as the 18th best technical university in the world, for its outstanding research and teaching quality. Over 100 projects are granted and executed each year and close to 50 spin-off companies started using technology developed at the TU Delft. Technology research and development as well as their valorisation into a marketable and profitable gain for the Dutch Economy are key values at TU Delft. The university has 8 faculties in all major fields of science and engineering, accommodating a student body of more than 25,000 divided over some 15 Bachelor and 40 Master programs. Several groups at the Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS) faculty work on the electrification of society leveraging in both transmission and distribution renewable energy from wind or solar power. This is one of TU Delft societal themes, reflected in the Sustainable Energy Technology master programme, which attracts more than one hundred master students from all around the world (hosted at EEMCS faculty).
The Photovoltaic Materials and Devices group (PVMD), funded by Prof. dr. Miro Zeman (head of the Electrical Sustainable energy department) and currently led by dr. Olindo Isabella, has a long history in research on and development of thin-film silicon solar cells, wafer-based crystalline silicon solar cells, advanced multi-functional PV modules and X-Integrated PV (XIPV) systems. In this respect, cutting-edge PV laboratory and monitoring system are available for indoor/outdoor evaluation and study of PV systems and/or individual components (modules, inverters, etc.). The PVMD group aims to deeper understand the solar cell and the PV module device physics using advanced characterization and modelling and to use this knowledge for designing and fabricating advanced solar cells and PV modules with higher efficiencies (taking into account the module integration).
RESPONSIBILITIES R&D responsible for yield assessment in the residential sector and development of solution for PV system in the urban environment. Involved in WP2 for the yield models for residential systems, in WP2 for the study of passive cooling solutions of PV modules. In WP5 to develop forecast together with SOLARMONKEY.
TÜV Rheinland Solar GmbH is a company within the TÜV Rheinland Group employing approximately 150 experts and specialised staff members. One subdivision is Solar Energy with its Solar Energy Assessment Centre (SEAC) Cologne. As the global market leader for the testing and certification of solar systems, TÜV Rheinland operates test laboratories in Cologne (Germany), Shanghai (China) and Bangalore (India). TÜV Rheinland has been active in photovoltaics for more than 35 years and has achieved major advances in this sector. TÜV Rheinland Energy GmbH is specialized on testing, certification and output power calibration of PV modules. It also provides services in testing and expert evaluation of PV plants during the planning phase, before commissioning and during plant operation. Applied research activities are focusing on PV module reliability testing, development of techniques for achieving a higher precision of PV module power measurement, energy yield assessment, mechanical robustness of PV modules and PV safety issues including arc fault detection and safety switches. TÜV Rheinland’s scientists and engineers are members of national and international standardisation committees. In particular, TÜV Rheinland is represented in WG2 PV Modules, non-concentrating, WG3 PV systems, WG6 Balance-of-system components and WG7 Concentrator modules of IEC technical committee TC82 Solar photovoltaic energy systems
RESPONSIBILITIES Specialist in standardization in the field of extended testing and field inspection. Co-developer of the CPN methodologies that will be further improved in WP3 and WP4. Involvement in WP7 for the demonstration of the technologies and in WP6 for the experience in Health&Safety and in skills in field inspection. TÜV Rheinland will develop the result related to extended testing.