About

In order to accelerate the pace towards high-penetration of PV in Europe and apart from the purely technical issues covered by SERENDI-PV, additional accompanying measures need to be set in place to lower the existing barriers to PV development, including:

• Remaining uncertainties on PV reliability, performance and profitability, increasing project financing costs.
• Limited accuracy of the modelling and data analytics, especially for complex typologies. New products and modelling necessities appear every year, such as: thin-film technologies, bifacial PV, BIPV, floating PV, the aging of PV systems, tracking optimization strategies, energy management and storage for
  grid-connected installations, or the impact of spectra solar radiation on different PV cell technologies.
• Lack of traceability, transparency and openness around the simulation software. Most of the simulation software used in the PV industry is commercial
  product, whose source code is not accessible for assessment. The technical knowledge is spread among the scientific community and the industry.
• Lack of reliable and available data on weather conditions, PV components, PV systems performance, and metadata on PV and grids.
• Lack of common standards, protocols and good practices for data exchange and storage.
• Lack of proper understanding of the underlying concepts from the user of the toolboxes.

There is therefore a need for a collaborative project which will enable all the required knowledge to be gathered at the same place. 

The platform will integrate interactive built-in learning tools that will educate the end-user in the best simulation and design practices and will make use of the newest Internet 4.0 digital technology to promote the exchange of these best practices between the PV community members.

 SERENDIPV will propose a global standard for exchanging and storing data to facilitate the integration of PV into the digital era. Sound legal framework is important to transparent and secure collection, processing and dissemination of the data and software tools. SERENDI-PV will draw the inventory of legal aspects related to data distribution and use of software tools, such as terms of use, confidentiality, modes of distribution, and will outline the best practices in the industry. As part of the collaborative platform we will provide access to public databases containing key information that will form an observatory of PV in Europe and elsewhere for better bankability, such as:

• Global maps and data on weather conditions, PV metadata and performance, including Building Information Model (BIM);
• Digital information on PV grid integration, to enable for a balancing power at the least cost when needed;
• Detailed information on PV components, with independent certification;