News

If in the previous newsletter, partners SUNCRAFTER [SUNCRAFT], KU LEUVEN [KUL], WATT4EVER [W4E]  were presenting the specifications for the three SOLMATE demonstrators, six months later more concrete actions became the focus of the overview.

SUNCRAFT already completed the feasibility and desirability assessment for the Plug-in PV [PiPV] demo and are currently awaiting for the feedback loop to finalise the system modelling together with ENGIE Laborelec. The preparation of the other two demonstrators is also advanced albeit them facing greater administrative challenges. 

The initial testing of the battery system for the AgriPV demo is ongoing. Battery packs show a state-of-health (SoH) between 94 % and 98 %, with cycle counts from 1317 to 6234.  

The other demonstrator from Belgium – a decentralised energy solution for low-income communities, to be installed on the roof of a school in Brussels, could potentially be delayed by the building permitting procedures. Leveraging W4E experience with second-life batteries, their demonstrator will feature a 90 kWh/45kWp battery energy storage system (BESS). To complete their work, they will still need to secure the PV modules and ensure their capacity is sufficient, given the limited rooftop surface of the school. As promised in the proposal, the minimum number of PV panels that will be installed will be between 100-200. 

Techno-economic assessment

Engie Laborelec is supporting the other partners in work package 2 by identifying the techno-economic prerequisites for the reuse of PV panels and EV batteries, with direct implications on the cost optimisation for each business case. They recently switched for another PV systems modelling software which integrates more data and prioritises a collaborative working environment. The PiPV demonstrator, already completed, is currently refined to take into consideration losses, such as PV module efficiency, battery and wiring, inverter consumption, as well as export limitations imposed at country level. The first results reported users could save about 250 to €290/kWp/year. These estimations remain under the influence of the annual consumption and the capacity of the second-life battery coupled with the system. 

The AgriPV plant is already configured with setup and consumption inputs provided by KU Leuven. By the end of the summer season, Laborelec team will have calculated the maximum annual amortization, expecting to extract recommendations on system dimensioning and operations by the end of September 2025. The low-income decentralised demo is still in its early stages, with technical parameters currently being collected. 

A busy summer is shaping in front of Laborelec and the partners in charge of the demonstrators. During the upcoming months, they will model all three demos and finalise sensitivity analysis, which will later provide the recommendations on dimensioning and operations for real deployments. Challenges are not missing from their scenario, where no previous pricing data for second-life PV and battery modules is available. Legal and technical constraints, such as export limitations and components’ qualification, add yet another attention point to be dealt with in the coming months, before validating the modelling assumptions with demo-specific data.  

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