Integrating PV into a Textile Architecture to Power Facade Lighting (Printed Electronics Europe 2015)

The overall objective of the ETFE-MFM Project is the development, evaluation and demonstration of a flexible multifunctional ETFE (Ethylene TetraFluoroEthylene) module for architectural façade lighting. The aim of this project is to provide a PV module with embedded additional functionalities (electronic control and illumination devices) designed to be integrated in ETFE textile architecture. Both, energy management and illumination functionality, will be implemented into the module using printed electronics technology. This will allow a good integration of the whole module and its lamination into ETFE without compromising flexibility. These printed electronics will provide the maximum power point (MPP) of the cells, as well as the individual control of the color and light intensity of each LED. The self-sufficient façade will display images and videos at night, using the energy harvested from the sun during the day.

PhD in Chemistry from University of Oviedo (Spain). He has more than five years of experience in thin films analytical characterization by different spectrometric techniques. During the last seven years his activity has been involved in thin film deposition processes and laser technologies focused on thin film solar cell development and building integration, with 18 peer-reviewed publications and more than 30 contributions to international conferences. Currently he is a researcher at Fundación ITMA from 2007.

ITMA Materials Technology (ITMA) is a Spanish private and non-profit technological organization, aimed at promoting companies' innovation through applied research and technological development in the field of materials science (www.itma.es). ITMA manages two centers with a total staff of 107 employees, 62% of which hold highly qualified university degrees in engineering, chemistry and physics. The research performed in ITMA is fully multidisciplinary and targeted to five strategic market sectors: Steel & Metallurgy, Refractory & Raw materials, Nanomaterials, Photonics & Optics and Electronics. ITMA participates in numerous collaborative projects at regional, national and European level, coordinating some of them and is part of numerous scientific and technological platforms.

The Photonics & Optics area is mainly focusing their efforts on thin film solar cells (TFSC) developments, novel concepts in photovoltaics and strategies for building integration.

The electronics area is involved in important research projects where it combines the development of new materials and the associated electronics that will provide intelligence to the next generation of devices.