PV Days | 22-24 October 2019How measurement results and Big Data can contribute to quality assurance in the solar industry was discussed by international experts at the PV Days from 22 to 24 October 2019 at the Fraunhofer Center for Silicon Photovoltaics CSP in Halle (Saale). For the first time, the symposium offered a marketplace for ideas where companies could discuss their ideas with other photovoltaic experts.
The PV Days took place for the sixth time at the Fraunhofer Center for Silicon Photovoltaics CSP in Halle (Saale). The main topic was quality control in photovoltaics, which on the one hand can increase the reliability and service life of modules and components and on the other hand can improve yield potential. "We wanted to look at the entire spectrum from materials to production processes to field use," says Prof. Ralph Gottschalg, head of the Fraunhofer CSP, who opened the three-day conference with the presentation "Data Enabling Terawatt Photovoltaics".
Numerous other program contributions also looked at the possibilities offered by digitalization and the skilful linking of data for industry. For example, efficient approaches for Big Data Analytics were presented and the corresponding requirements for measurement methods and data evaluation were discussed.
The total of seven sessions of the conference were dedicated, for example, to the connection between operating data and yield in the field, material testing and process control, metrology and quality assurance, the requirements for data for successful grid integration of photovoltaics or possible obstacles for due diligence checks. In a panel discussion, experts from industry and science discussed which requirements data must meet in order to make photovoltaics possible on a terawatt scale. At a marketplace for ideas and industry, companies presented their research needs and discussed possible solutions and joint project ideas with other PV Days participants. The programme concluded with a session on the potential of half cells, in which the results of the project "MechSi - Modelling of the mechanical behaviour of thin silicon substrates and solar cells", funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and completed after five years, were presented.