Afrodite power and aesthetics for the built environment

The objective of this work is to improve the acceptability of building integrated renewable energy conversion by developing high performance photovoltaic building elements with a high visual appeal. After an exercise of translating the visual appeal into technical specifications, a number of novelties are introduced both on the level of the crystalline silicon solar cell structure, the required production equipment and for the module manufacturing. Supporting the development of the new products with both reliability testing and an extended outdoor performance evaluation, a number of highly efficient demonstrator building elements have been manufactured.