HomePvPower is an industrial research project coordinated by MIST E-R and co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the “Call for strategic industrial research projects targeting innovation in the energy sector” (DGR 1097/2015) within the framework of POR FESR EMILIA -ROMAGNA 2014/2020 Axis 1. The project aims to demonstrate an innovative photovoltaic power self-consumption and management method that does not require a bidirectional connection to the grid, but still allows the grid to be used as a seamless backup provider.
Three essential components for the home powerline, that do not yet exist on the market, will be developed: the “Power Mixer” (for mixing the power generated with that eventually drawn from the grid), the “Smart Powerline Controller” (powerline control and management system), and two new types of photovoltaic home furnishing elements, which, when integrated with properly adapted commercial products, will act as kits for transforming typical domestic powerlines into active powerlines with one-way connections to the external electricity grid. These kits’ main feature is the modularity and expandability of the number of active components that can be installed, both generators and accumulators, with no need to modify the electrical system.
Goals
The project’s goal is to create a “demo” kit of active and passive electrical devices and components based on three innovative product prototypes developed specifically within the context of the project itself:
1 – The “Power Mixer”: a device for managing and regulating the supply of electrical power from the local powerline in the presence of local electricity generation and/or storage units, via a one-way and low-priority connection (backup supply) with the external power grid.
2 – The “Smart Powerline Controller”: a system that monitors and controls the Power Mixer, the loads, and the active components installed on the local powerline based on the optimised use of locally generated electricity and the use of electricity from the external grid.
3 – “Smart PVs”: innovative photovoltaic elements of various shapes and sizes with characteristics of architectural furnishings, based on conventional silicon solar cells and on experimental thin-film photovoltaic cells, with different degrees of transparency, placed on ultralight metallic or polymeric substrates.
Finally, the project also entails the functional testing of the kit itself by installing it on a typical domestic powerline and measuring the performance of the system (efficiency, safety, manageability by the user, impact on the electricity bill and other bills) and its main components.
