World’s 1st Commercial Installation of Perovskite Solar Cells in Poland

Poland-based Saule Technologies, a perovskite solar tech company, has launched its first installation of photovoltaic blinds – sun breakers with perovskite solar cells. This world’s first commercial implementation of perovskite solar cell technology was a collaboration with Aliplast, said the company.

Saule’s new product was first presented in October 2020. The profiles with solar modules, which are placed on the aluminum structure supplied by Aliplast, are equipped with an automatic change of position with the sun’s movement, developed by Somfy.

The company explains that the blinds not only protect the building from overheating or cooling down, significantly reducing the cost of air conditioning and heating. At the same time, they produce clean energy from solar illumination.

Thanks to the Animeo automation system from Somfy, the profiles with perovskite modules cooperate with the weather station installed on the roofs. Using live weather data and sun-tracking, they automatically change their alignment with the movement of the sun. This solution ensures the facility’s energy efficiency and guarantees thermal comfort and protection against too harsh light for the building users, regardless of the season, claims Saule.

“The implementation of the system is possible in any building type. Therefore, I believe that this is the beginning of a revolution in the world of photovoltaics,” said Jan Kidaj, President of the Management and Board Member of Aliplast.

Sun breakers are part of Building Applied Photovoltaics (BAPV) systems, i.e., photovoltaic installations mounted on office buildings, shopping centers, warehouses, and factories. Saule Technologies perovskite sun blinds can be tailored to customer preferences, ranging from the material used, such as aluminum, wood, glass, or plastics, through shape and width, to color.

In photovoltaics, solar sun blinds open a new market possibility with enormous growth potential: building facades, where traditional silicon cells, heavy and ineffective in suboptimal lighting, do not compete, added Poland-headquartered Saule.

Unlike traditional silicon cells, perovskite cells are flexible, lightweight, ultra-thin and translucent. Their production does not require high temperatures, which translates into significantly lower energy consumption, lower production costs, and the possibility of using substrates of various surfaces, even foil or textiles.

Perovskite cells can generate energy from artificial light, and unlike silicon panels, they are efficient even then when the sun’s rays fall at an angle other than 90 degrees. Thanks to these advantages and their low weight, they can be mounted even on vertical façade elements and in colors matching the façade of the buildings.