PV2050: Sustainability, market deployment and interaction to the grid – the impacts of advanced PV solutions

Description

The opportunities for photovoltaic (PV) solar energy conversion to support the requested transition for the realization of the Energy Strategy 2050 are widely recognized. However, if PV is to make a significant contribution to satisfy global energy requirements, issues of sustainability need to be addressed with increased urgency. This project aims at assessing the sustainability impacts of the devices and (potential) products being developed within the PV2050 projects. The sustainability impact assessment will cover not only purely environmental aspects (e.g. CO2 equivalent, energy yield), but also socio-economic impacts (e.g. influence on employment rate, acceptance, demand), as well as pricing and market deplo yment of solar electricity, and the impact on the grid. We expect that, in case of success in the technology developments, the next generation photovoltaic solutions proposed, will have a significant impact on penetration of PV in the Swiss grid, which will require various measures to guarantee a safe, clean but still affordable electricity supply.

Key data

Projectlead

Prof. Vicente Carabias-Hütter, Prof. Dr. Bettina Furrer

Project team

Dr. Matthias Schmid, Prof. Harry Spiess, Matthias Stucki, Prof. Dr. Hartmut Nussbaumer, Tobias Kuehn, Evelyn Lobsiger-Kägi, René Itten, Lea Eymann, Prof. Dr. Franz Baumgartner, Thomas Baumann

Project partners

Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne EPFL

Project status

completed, 12/2014 - 11/2018

Institute/Centre

Institute of Sustainable Development (INE); Institute of Natural Resource Sciences (IUNR); Institute of Energy Systems and Fluid Engineering (IEFE); Institute of Computational Physics (ICP)

Funding partner

NFP 70 «Energiewende»