According to PhD professor Dimitar Dimitrov from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technologies (FEEIT), who is this project’s coordinator, our legislation allows for the instalment of photovoltaic systems, but one of the main issues in increasing the investments in to renewable energy sources is the issue of storing the excess energy that is created. With this innovation, that has been worked on by our expert team for more than two years, we created a smart photovoltaic accumulation module, that has a standard photovoltaic collector with integrated batteries. The batteries are embedded in the frame of the photovoltaic collector, together with the control electronics.
Changing the frames gives this innovative product a new additional function- to be used as a waterproof roofing area in building construction. Creator of the project idea is the “Toraks” company, which specializes in energy efficient facades and roofs. The project is conducted with the cooperation of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technologies (FEEIT) through the Center for Technology Transfer and Innovation -INNOFEIT and the “Intebako” company.
„The result of our two years’ worth of work is the first trial series of these products, of whom 15 photovoltaic modules with embedded batteries were installed in the Faculty’s yard. This module’s advantage is that the batteries are embedded in the very module, which by itself is a standard one. During our research phase, we checked databases and patents and could not find anything like it or even similar to it in the entire world. There are more expensive solutions that can not compete with ours. We started the patenting process in which we checked the databases and patents again, and even after two years, there is still nothing similar on the world’s market”, said professor Dimitrov.
The application of a smart photovoltaic accumulation module, an innovation created by a project supported by the Innovation and Development Fund, is universal. According to professor Dimitrov, the advantage of such photovoltaic modules is that they can be installed in buildings as a sort of waterproof roofing structure, but they can also be used in open field plants, households and large manufacturers. Classic photovoltaic systems cause variations in the voltage of the electric power networks during their normal functioning. That causes a limitation on the number of installed systems. The ability to store and manage the electric energy overcomes this limitation, and can also increase the network’s capacity to connect new consumers. It will result in a significant cost reduction in connecting photovoltaic systems into the electrical grid, which in turn means that there will be benefits for the investors in such systems.
FV-PAM’s users can even become energy suppliers because in their portfolio they have plants that can balance the supplied and consumed electric energy, and with that they can reduce their energy costs. They can also plan when to give or take energy, depending on the current prices. Other potential users are the construction companies. They will install the roof constructions that will generate and accumulate energy. Two companies are interested in using these modules in their objects at the moment and the product is created to conquer the world market. He expects that the patent will be bought by a big company that can place it through their sales channels everywhere in the world.
You can get more information about FV-PAM on https://www.fvpam.mk/
