August 19, 2024

PILATUS Project: Innovative Photovoltaic Materials and Components Made in Europe

Starting in November 2022, PILATUS is a 3-year EU-funded project aiming at demonstrating three digitalized pilot lines for producing silicon wafers, solar cells, and solar modules in Europe.

In short this project seeks to contribute to rebuild a competitive, environmentally compliant, “made in Europe” photovoltaic (PV) industry, retaining the entire value chain and demonstrating three digitalised pilot lines by 2025.

PILATUS leverages patented interdigitated back-contacted silicon heterojunction ‘tunnel-IBC’ technology, aiming for a production capacity of 15 MW for M10 silicon wafers in Norway using European polysilicon, with plans for expanding to 5 GW capacity. It will demonstrate the feasibility of an expansion to 5 GW wafer production capacity. The project also emphasizes reducing the environmental footprint by using recycled materials, eco-design practices, and ensuring manufacturing plants comply with environmental standards. In this way it supports the EU’s low-carbon energy system by promoting affordability, security of supply, and sustainability.

Initiated by Meyer Burger, a leader in high-performance photovoltaic cells and modules, PILATUS aims to accelerate the industrialization of advanced cell technology. Meyer Burger’s expertise in heterojunction/SmartWire technology positions it to lead photovoltaics into a new era.

Within PILATUS, Meyer Burger considers an innovative pilot line for IBC cells (Interdigitated Back Contact solar Cell) as the next step towards achieving a 25.5% cell efficiency target, to be further increased when stepping into industrial production.

One of the notable innovations is an advanced roof tile, manufactured through a highly automated process, showcasing the practical applications of the technology developed in PILATUS. This aligns with Meyer Burger’s strategic goals to scale up new PV technologies to an industrial level and produce high-performance PV cells and modules.

For more information on the PILATUS project, visit Project – PILATUS (pilatus-project.eu)

Figure Copyright: ©Meyer Burger Press Photos

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