SHINE PV
The main objective of SHINE PV is to develop alternative technological routes to mainstream advanced photovoltaic (PV) production at lower costs and create opportunities for the differentiation of EU manufacturers (cells, modules, equipment and materials) to enhance their competitiveness on the global PV market.
Projektpartner
- POLYMER COMPETENCE CENTER LEOBEN GMBH (PCCL)
- Applied Materials Italia srl (AMAT) – Coordinator
- Commissariat a l Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA)
- Fraunhofer Gesellschaft zur Forderung der Angewandten Forschung EV (ISE)
- Highline Technology GmbH (HL)
- P.V. Nano Cell Ltd. (PVN)
- Interuniversitair Micro-Electronica Centrum (IMEC)
- Arkema France SA (ARK)
- IPTE Automation OÜ (IPTE)
- Singulus Technologies AG (SING)
- Hanwha Q CELLS GmbH (QC)
- Soltech (SOL)
- HoloSolis (HS)
- Univerza v Ljubljani (UL)
- Enginsoft Spa (ES)
- PI Photovoltaik-Institut Berlin AG (PIB)
- Nederlandse Organisatie voor toegepast-natuurwetenschappelijk (TNO)
- AMIRES, the Business Innovation Management Institute z.ú. (ABIMI)
- 3SUN s.r.l. (3SUN)
- Centre Suisse d’électronique et de microtechnique SA- Recherche et Developpment (CSEM)
- M10 Industries AG (M10)
- RENA Technologies GmbH (RENA)
Motivation and Goals
In line with the Paris Agreement (to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels), the EU is committed to reaching climate neutrality by 2050. Replacement of fossil energy sources with renewables plays a key role in reaching this objective. Photovoltaics (PV), as one of the cheapest, low-carbon energy technologies at present, are gaining more and more attention in the Renewable Energy Systems (RES) family. With this in mind, SHINE PV aims to develop disruptive PV manufacturing technologies to further enhance the solar power capacity and facilitate the transition from fossil-based energy systems to low-carbon, more environmentally friendly solutions.
The SHINE PV project, funded by the European Commission, aims to revolutionize the photovoltaic manufacturing landscape in Europe by developing alternative technological routes to mainstream production. This initiative, which started in January 2025 and will last four years, focuses on enhancing the competitiveness of European manufacturers by reducing production costs and simultaneously increasing efficiency.
To drive technological innovation in the PV industry, it is essential to explore alternative technological routes for Silicon Heterojunction (SHJ) and Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contact (TOPCon) solar cells. SHINE PV focuses on key steps in back-end manufacturing, such as metallization, post-processing, and interconnection. By introducing high-volume manufacturing (HVM) processes like parallel dispensing and plating, we can replace traditional screen-printing methods. For post processing, the project will develop both edge-repassivation and light soaking processes and equipment, with the aim of recovering or enhancing cell efficiency after laser separation.
For the module making step both TWILL interconnection and shingling will be developed, to increase the resilience of the modules in reliability testing and decrease costs. These advancements will not only enhance the efficiency of solar cells and modules but also streamline the manufacturing process, making it more sustainable and economically viable.
Within SHINE PV PCCL contributes to several tasks of WP 3. On the one hand this WP focuses on the simulation of cell interconnection technologies, which are expected to improve the aesthetics and performance of PV modules, for a better understanding of interconnection failure modes for both shingling and TWILL. The evolution of thermo-mechanical stresses, caused by the lamination process as well as mechanical (snow, wind, …) and thermal loading (temperature cycles), will be evaluated. To identify possible fabrication process and loading related failures, structural mechanical simulations based on Finite Element Modeling (FEM) will be conducted by PCCL.
Furthermore, within WP3 partners will focus on 1) shingle overlap reduction, 2) reduction on Ag usage at the Electrically Conductive Adhesive level (either by ECA reduction or by usage of low content Ag ECA) and 3) improvement in handling of thin wafers supported by PCCL.
Development of specific material for encapsulation will be done by PCCL and integrated into modules to ensure that the thermomechanical properties of the different elements of the modules are fully tuned to address extensive reliability. The project is examining the extent to which a specific reduction in the thickness of the encapsulation material is possible for the matrix technology, which paves way for enormous savings on material costs.
Main Goals
- Establish a European PV production chain which will increase Europe’s PV production capacity and decrease the dependence on imported PV, which is fully aligned with the EU’s Net Zero Industry Act.
- Introducing new disruptive PV technologies will improve Europe’s market positioning and certainly help in regain technological leadership in this domain
- SHINE PV will establish an innovative production chain covering different steps in the process: process development, equipment manufacturing, demonstrators, simulation & module testing.
- Innovations in the manufacturing lines will further increase cell efficiencies to produce modules of superior electrical properties and reliability compared to the current technologies on the market.
- SHINE PV tools will embed Industry 4.0 concepts which will allow better and more efficient monitoring and control of the production chains.
Objectives and Approach
To reach the final objectives of the project and generate high-quality results, the consortium will apply an interdisciplinary approach in its research, especially concerning the development of innovative PV manufacturing technologies and corresponding equipment. All concerned partners will be involved in the core tasks of the project to cover different aspects in the development process, address the problems from various angles and points of view (process development from the research point of view, use case partners’ requirements, etc.), and make sure that all the relevant expertise and know-how of different disciplines, such as material science, device simulation, physics, electronics, manufacturing engineering, production simulation, economics is taken into account and fully integrated in the final results. This will guarantee the development of novel technologies for metallization, post-processing and module interconnection of silicon solar cells that reduce processing costs and enhance the sustainability of solar cells and modules manufacturing.
„The SHINE PV project, funded by the European Commission, aims to revolutionize the photovoltaic manufacturing landscape in Europe by developing alternative technological routes to mainstream production. “
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Funding Body
This project is funded by the European Union (Grant Agreement ID 101172902). Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
