“Our credo is ‘energy from the region for the region.’ Today we have to celebrate two occasions: We give the official start for operations of our highly modern biogas plant; furthermore, we push innovation and test an organic solar film in the heart of a brown coal district,” stated Hans Buenting, board member renewable energies of RWE International SE.
In addition to the production of bio-methane for heat supply, the solar film of Heliatek is generating further energy. About 95 square meters of HeliaFilm® have been installed directly on profiled steel panels of the fermenter façade. This is a world first for such a technology approach.
Thibaud Le Séguillon, CEO Heliatek, adds: “RWE has chosen our organic solar film product, HeliaFilm®, due to itsunique product characteristics. Being ultra-thin, flexible and having a truly green lifecycle are the main reasons to use HeliaFilm® in this innovativeapplication. We are proud to implement the world’s first project of this kind with our partner and thus set new standards for Building Integrated Organic Photovoltaic (BIOPV) on industrial installation.”
Installation of HeliaFilm® on the profiled steel façade panels of the fermenter
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Altogether 180 HeliaFilm® solar films with a total installed power of 5.40 kWp were mounted directly onto the profiled steel façade panels. The light weight of HeliaFilm® is a key advantage since it makes installation on existing façades possible. The influence of statics of a building, especially in comparison to silicon solar modules, is negligible.
In a vertical mounting, further special characteristics become effective. The Heliatek solar film has a superior low light performance, which is a clear advantage in a non-optimal orientation of a vertical façade. HeliaFilm® also offers a very stable, high temperature behavior, allowing direct application to the façade structure without requiring extra ventilation, and thus opening a wide range of new industrial applications.
About Heliatek:
Heliatek is a leader in the field of Organic Electronics Energy, holding the world record efficiency of 13.2%. Through both its leading edge material development and its proven capability for volume manufacturing, Heliatek is the first company to begin commercialization of large area OPV solar film. Its business model is to supply the custom-designed HeliaFilm® to partners in industries such as building and construction materials, automotive and light architectural structures. Heliatek maintains a total staff of some 85 specialists at its facilities in Dresden and Ulm, Germany.
Investors in Heliatek include leading industrial and financial companies such as BASF, Innogy Venture Capital, Wellington Partners, eCapital and Aqton SE. Research and development work, as well as the installation of production technology, have been funded by the Free State of Saxony, the Federal Republic of Germany and the European Union.
