New strategies
In order to foster the development and integration of PV systems in Europe and beyond, more efficient, reliable and profitable operation and maintenance strategies need to be found.
SOLARIS will demonstrate the effectiveness of a complete set of both physical and digital solutions for answering the PV industry needs in terms of improved forecasting and operational performance as well as better maintenance, and hence higher profitability of photovoltaic systems.
In short SOLARIS includes development, testing and demonstration of:
- Comprehensive forecasting tool and AI-based energy trading tool
- Solutions against soiling
- Early fault detection including preventive maintenance
- Wind load sensing, novel impedance sensing, and design for power electronics
- Autonomous drones’ inspection
- Online IoT platform
- PV asset management software
The project
The SOLARIS project gathers 15 partners (6 research-oriented partners, 8 industrial partners including 2 start-ups & 3 SMEs, and a municipality) for 48 months to develop and demonstrate a complete set of physical and digital tools for improved forecasting, operational performance and maintenance, resulting in high performance index (90%) and availability (>98%) of PV plants, and decreasing the levelised cost of energy by 10%.
Demonstration data will be gathered in an IoT platform, feeding one of the main tools proposed to PV operators. All developments will be demonstrated and assessed in 8 use-cases – utility- and small-scale across four demo sites all spread across different climates in Europe.
Demo sites:
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Ground-mounted PVs
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Rooftop PVs
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Agricultural PVs
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Floating PVs
Demonstration datasets and labelled data on the different use-cases, as well as long-term PV potentials for regions of demonstration will be shared publicly to foster developments of other initiatives. The uptake of SOLARIS developments will be enhanced by the wide dissemination of demonstration and assessment results to relevant stakeholders, i.e. PV systems owners and O&M firms, as well as technology providers. It will be further facilitated by the creation of a Stakeholder Forum, accompanying all developments towards commercialisation.
DTUs part
Of technical developments, DTU will be focusing on integrating advanced drone-based multi-spectral inspection technologies for photovoltaic systems. DTU collaborates with its partners to develop and optimise innovative sensing technologies, such as infrared, electroluminescence, and photoluminescence imaging, tailored for predictive maintenance and performance enhancement of PV plants.
We’re leading the creation of sophisticated data analysis and AI models to process and interpret data collected from these inspections, improving decision-making and operational efficiency. Our state-of-the-art facilities serve as a testing ground for validating these technologies in real-world conditions, ensuring the solutions are robust and effective. Through our efforts, we aim to set new industry standards in collaboration with the project partners of SOLARIS, contributing significantly to reducing maintenance costs and improving the reliability and performance of solar energy systems.
The project received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program under grant agreement N°101146377.
