SolarBEAT outdoor test facility for BIPV(T)

Research on PV

Research is being done on complete systems and individual components such as: e.g. new Building Integrated PV (BIPV) products, solar thermal collectors or complete systems, PVT (combination of electricity and thermal), and electronical solar-related products, such as (micro-)inverters and power optimizers.

The outdoor research at SolarBEAT serves several purposes:

• In close collaboration with the project team that contains a.o. architects, builders, developers, and installers, we further improve existing solar products or find opportunities to develop new innovative products.
• We determine the performance model based on high quality measurement data, measured 24/7 from calibrated equipment. This is essential for a sound business case and can be crucial before market introduction.
• Together we showcase the solar product to potential customers.

SolarBEAT is equipped with the highest standard weather station and a dense network of sensors for irradiation, temperature and energy yield. Moreover, SolarBEAT also has a full installation for solar thermal research with buffer tanks, flow controllers and many sensors. All sensors are synchronized and stored in a central database server. Access of data is professionally organized in such a way that confidential and project-specific data never gets mixed up with public data or data of other projects.