Mastering the (industrial) Data (EN)
How improved manufacturing is created from industrial and production process data.
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Platform-ZERO aims to reach zero defect manufacturing for the photovoltaic industry
The EU project “Platform-ZERO” aims to improve the overall production quality of photovoltaic devices while reducing manufacturing costs through zero-defect production. This is to be achieved through the use of inline process monitoring, control, and artificial intelligence strategies, implemented at four pilot plants in four different countries. RISC Software GmbH is leading a work package on data management and the development of user-friendly control software. It also contributes to AI-based data analysis.
Leveraging New PV Technologies
The latest generation of PV technologies combines high performance with great flexibility for integration into buildings, vehicles, agrivoltaic systems, and Internet-of-Things devices. However, their complexity makes them highly susceptible to critical defects arising from even minor deviations in standard manufacturing conditions, leading to significant production waste.
Platform-ZERO addresses this challenge by developing a new customizable inline process monitoring platform supported by artificial intelligence to enable zero-defect manufacturing in third-generation PV industries. The system enables early detection, correction, and/or prevention of pre-critical production errors. The strategy will be tested at four pilot plants operated by PV and PV-related industry partners in Spain, Germany, Austria, and Poland. The pilot plants focus on smart coatings for photovoltaics, high-efficiency solar modules, and flexible solar films made from various PV materials and processes.
The photovoltaic materials and devices in this project are not based on standard silicon but on so-called third-generation PV technologies. Materials such as CIGS or perovskites offer higher efficiency, lower costs, a smaller carbon footprint, and high adaptability for advanced integrated applications that can deliver additional functionalities compared to standard silicon. Moreover, they are well suited for manufacturing using highly automated and Industry 4.0 approaches.
RISC Software GmbH: Expertise in Data Engineering and AI Analysis
RISC Software GmbH will lead Work Package WP4 “Data Management and Control Unit Development.” It will contribute its expertise in data cleaning and integration, hybrid mathematical modeling of manufacturing processes, and development of user-friendly process control software. This includes collecting, integrating, and preparing sensor data, training machine learning models for inline control of solar cell manufacturing processes, and developing operator-facing control software.
A Multidisciplinary Team of Experts from Science and Industry
The project has a total budget of over €10 million and a duration of four years. The consortium consists of 12 European partners and is coordinated by Victor Izquierdo from the Solar Energy Materials and Systems Group at IREC (Catalonia Institute for Energy Research). It includes four research centers and one university with expertise in the development of spectroscopic methods (IREC, HZB), imaging (AIT), evaluation of optoelectronic devices (UPO), AI analysis (AIT, IREC, RISC), and data management (RISC). Additionally, the consortium includes two research centers with extensive knowledge in advanced PV technologies and industrial pilot lines for validating concepts (two demo sites), focused on high-efficiency CIGS components (ZSW) and nano-based surface processes and coatings (Lurederra). The team is complemented by an SME in metrology with strong experience in industrial process monitoring (LENZ) and two SMEs in third-generation PV manufacturing (SUNPLUGGED and SAULE), both providing their production lines as demo sites for Platform-ZERO. Furthermore, two SME partners, R2M Solution France and R2M Solution SRL Italy, are responsible for dissemination, exploitation, and communication.
Funded by the European Union under the Horizon Europe programme under grant agreement No. 101058459. The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HADEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
Project Partners
Project Details
- Project Short Title: Platform-ZERO
- Project Full Title: Customizable AI-based in-line process monitoring platform for achieving zero-defect manufacturing in the PV industry
- Funding Call: HORIZON-CL4-2021-TWIN-TRANSITION-01-02 Zero-defect manufacturing towards zero-waste (Made in Europe Partnership)
- Project Partners:
- Catalonia Institute for Energy Research
- Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH
- Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg
- R2M Solution SRL
- R2M Solution
- Lurederra
- Sunplugged Solar Energy Systems GmbH
- Lenz Instruments S.L.
- Helmholtz Centre Berlin for Materials and Energy
- Universidad Pablo Olavide
- Saule Technologies
- Total Budget: €10,190,043.00
- EU Funding: €9,131,043.00
- Project Duration: 48 months (01/2023 – 12/2026)
Contact
Project Lead
DI Paul Heinzlreiter
Senior Data Engineer
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