Technology of Custom Designed Mono-Si Photovoltaic Cells for Specific Purposes and Energy Communities

Abstract

This paper presents a new approach to recycling used monocrystalline Si photovoltaic cells. It focuses on creating custom designs for specific applications and energy communities. The target is to develop cheap and efficient technology to manufacture custom designed PV cells applicable for various specific purposes and for usage in energy communities. The idea originates from possible recycling of used or defective monocrystalline silicon photovoltaic modules. The modules could be disassembled to components and these structures could be further reused. The paper focuses on usage of disassembled cells. Cells with age of several years cannot compete in term of efficiency with cells produced with modern technology. On the other side these cells have been already manufactured and the environment has been already stressed with their carbon footprint. The proposed technology aims to reduce environmental impact while meeting the aesthetic and functional demands of modern consumers. It is important to understand that actual photovoltaic market is very different from the situation 10 or 5 years ago. Significant number of customers focuses not on the power generation or its efficiency itself but on other features of photovoltaic systems, namely design. New design ways and approaches have been introduced during recent seasons. The main task of this paper is to introduce cheap and efficient technology of custom designed mono-Si photovoltaic cells from recycled PV modules. These cells can offer variable design features important for specific new group of private customers and energy communities.