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GeoUS will support increased research excellence in geothermal energy at VSB -Technical University of Ostrava, Czech Republic through close cooperation with Fraunhofer Institute, Germany and University of Vaasa, Finland. The ultimate goal is the development of multi-disciplinary research and innovation skills in the Czech Republic, focused on the fundamental and practical aspects of developing geothermal as a sustainable energy source. GeoUS will enable VSB to expand its network with leading research organisations in geothermal energy. It also involves young researchers to support future development of research activities impacting in the Moravia Region in line with the Regional and National Research and Innovation Strategy for Smart Specialization (RIS3 Strategy) and ESIF targets. The results will be widely shared with City Authority of Ostrava, Moravian-Silesian Regional Authority and also with authorities at national level. GeoUS will: 1. Transfer knowledge and build excellent research. 2. Increase scientific excellence in thermal characterization and mathematical modelling of heat flows and temperature fields and in measurement and control of energy flows. 3. Improve the scientific excellence and research capacity of VSB. 4. Increase the capacity of VSB for participation in future high-quality research activities and innovation in thermal energy in Central Europe. 5. Increase the interaction with and between the main players in the innovation process in Czech Republic for developing and exploiting geothermal energy. 6. Widen the visibility of VSB as a centre of excellence for thermal energy. 7. Engage with the public and citizens and young people on science related to thermal energy.

A realistic approach to increase the efficiency of photovoltaic (PV) devices above the Shockley-Queisser single-junction limit is the construction of tandem devices. PERCISTAND focuses on the development of advanced materials and processes for all thin film perovskite on chalcogenide tandem devices. This tandem configuration is at an early stage of development today. The PERCISTAND emphasis is on 4-terminal tandem solar cell and module prototype demonstration on glass substrates, but also current- and voltage-matched 2-terminal proof-of-concept device structures are envisaged. Key research activities are the development and optimization of top wide band gap perovskite and bottom low band gap CuInSe2 devices, suitable transparent conductive oxides, and integration into tandem configurations. The focus is on obtaining high efficiency, stability and large-area manufacturability, at low production cost and environmental footprint. Efficiency target is 30 % at cell level, and 25 % at module level. Reliability and stability, tested in line with International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards, must be similar as commercially available PV technologies. High manufacturability means that all technologies applied are scalable to 20×20 cm2, using sustainable and low-cost materials and processes. The cost and environmental impact will be assessed in line with International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and must be competitive with existing commercial PV technologies. Such a tandem device significantly outperforms not only the stand-alone perovskite and chalcogenide devices, but also best single-junction silicon devices. The development will be primarily on glass substrates, but also applicable to flexible substrates and thus interesting for building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) solutions, an important market for thin film PV. Hence, the outcome has high potential to strengthen and regain the EU leadership in thin film PV research and manufacturing.

The efficiency of geothermal utilisation depends heavily upon the behaviour of the fluids that transfer heat between the geosphere and the engineered components of a power plant. Chemical or physical processes such as precipitation, corrosion, or degassing occur as pressure and temperature change with serious consequences for power plant operations and project economics. Currently, there are no standard solutions for operators to deal with these challenges. The aim of REFLECT is to avoid the problems related to fluid chemistry rather than treat them. This requires accurate predictions and thus a thorough knowledge of the physical and chemical properties of the fluids throughout the geothermal loop. These properties are often only poorly defined, as in situ sampling as well as measurements at extreme conditions are hardly possible to date. As a consequence, large uncertainties in current model predictions prevail, which will be tackled in REFLECT by collecting new, high quality data in critical areas. The proposed approach includes advanced fluid sampling techniques, the measurement of fluid properties at in situ conditions, and the exact determination of key parameters controlling precipitation and corrosion processes. The sampled fluids and measured fluid properties cover a large range of salinity and temperature, including those from enhanced and super-hot geothermal systems. The data obtained will be implemented in a European geothermal fluid atlas and in predictive models that both ultimately allow to adjust operational conditions and power plant layout to prevent unwanted reactions before they occur. That way, recommendations can be derived on how to best operate geothermal systems for sustainable and reliable electricity generation, advancing from an experience-based to a knowledge-based approach.

Data is central for energy research and analysis. Unfortunately, energy data is often difficult to find, mixed in different repositories, and generally fragmented. This results in a lack of efficiency for research and energy transition management. EnerMaps aims to improve data availability, data quality, and data management for industry (in particular renewable technology industry), energy planners, energy utilities, energy managers, energy consultants, public administration officers specialised in the energy sector and policy decision makers as well as social innovation experts and data providers, applying FAIR principles. To this end, we focus on three axes: a) The creation of two tools working in conjunction: a scientific community dashboard providing a critical mass of energy datasets in one common tool, and a data management tool providing a quality-check selection of crucial data with an integrated visualization and calculation modules. Both tools will be freely accessible to all users. b) Scientific communication: we increase current capacities of publicly-financed R&I projects to communicate their newly created datasets through enrichment and promotion activities. The aim is to increase the probability of seeing these datasets reused. c) Capacity building on data management: an extensive set of formation is organized for lead-user representatives. The use of action-learning techniques and the application of a “train the trainer” approach ensures the efficiency of the training programs. The project collaborates actively with European-wide data management initiatives such as the European Open Science Cloud Initiative and integrates actively its future users into the development of the different tools to insure their usefulness.

The future wind turbines will require flexible and economically affordable PDPs to obtain reliable and validated new concepts for bigger wind turbines or already installed turbines. One of the most critical components that have a high contribution to wind farms OpEx costs are the bearings (selected Case Studies 1 and 3 during INNTERESTING) and gearboxes (selected Case Study 2 during INNTERESTING). Since both components transfer high loads and have high failure rates, they are considered as critical components inside the wind turbine. Although the percentage of the total Capex cost of bearings (2% ) is not as high as other structures (e.g. blades 22% and gearbox 13%) , their role is not insignificant.However, the role of bearings and gears in the OpEx is higher due to the major impact of early. The fatigue requirements that must be assured for the lifetime is a key factor to reduce the negative effect of reparations. New wind energy key concepts and uses which are faster to commercialisation have been prioritised: INNTERESTING project aims to accelerate wind energy technology development and increase lifetime extension of wind turbine components by developing a disruptive methodology to demonstrate reliability of larger wind turbine critical components without the need of building larger test-benches in the future by overcoming size dependent issues during design process and testing. In this matter, INNTERESTING project pursues the development of innovative virtual and hybrid testing methods for prototype validation of pitch bearing and gearboxes components (Selected Study Cases Components). The new methodology will help saving time and money during the product development process (PDP) by integrating virtual testing and hybrid testing: including innovative non-physical and scaled/simplified physical testing. In comparison with current methodologies INNTERESTING will reduce considerable environmental and economic impacts, and improve social acceptance.

The hydrogen-based Solenco Powerbox allows solar or wind power to be privately stored for hours or months, allowing 24 hour, year-round renewable electric power and heat, independent of the power grid. Powerbox allows every home and business to cheaply store their own generated energy, with over 90% conversion efficiency, electric and heat storage. The Solenco Powerbox is a heavily-patented combination of an electrolyzer and a fuel cell in one unit. It transforms electricity into hydrogen, stores it indefinitely, then converts hydrogen back into electricity and/or heat, at minimal loss. Heat comes out as hot water at a rated temperature of 80°C. Unlike battery storage, the Powerbox stores heat as well as electricity. There is no degradation of conversion capacity over time – its working lifetime is over 30 years. Unlike natural gas storage, there is no need to draw on local underground storage capacity. Unlike hydroelectric power storage, there is no need for local mountains or lakes to be available. Unlike chemical storage, there is no hazardous storage, transport or disposal concern. Our method has zero carbon footprint and works anywhere, allowing homes and businesses to be heated and powered with intermittent solar and/or wind storage and even to feed excess power into local city grids as needed. Solenco will be powerful to commercialize, since it has comparable cost to existing inferior solutions, and has the fastest return on investment (<3 years) of any storage solution on the market. Powerbox is targeted at the EU-28 residential renewable energy market of €33.6B (2016), which continues to grow rapidly. Our founder has created hundreds of energy jobs in Europe. Solenco won the Hansa Green Tour Startup Challenge in 2018 and will earn 530,000 Euros in 2019.

In the next 10 years, European wind power capacity will double. To maximize energy output & turbine efficiency, one of the most promising innovations is high altitude wind power plants. By building taller towers, we can exploit up to 2x stronger winds, lowering the cost of energy. Modvion is a wood construction engineering company founded in 2016. Our mission is to develop & bring to market the next generation of cost-efficient tall towers for wind turbines in engineered wood – nature's carbon fibre. Modvion’s team grew constantly, with highly specialized people joining the team. This led to our first patent and, currently, another pending patent. We bring to market the first ever modular wind turbine tower made from laminated wood (LVL). Using Modvion technology, towers can be built, with a larger diameter base. This increases its strength, thus leading to taller & stronger towers. By using engineered wood such as LVL, we were able to develop a structure with 55% more strength than steel per weight. Modv

Solar energy reaching Earth is ubiquitous and unlimited. However, current solar technologies in the market converting light directly to electricity theoretically can harvest only 33% of this energy. Stacking several solar cells with appropriate optical properties, power conversion efficiency (PCE) can be almost doubled. Albeit, current multiple junction (MJ) solar cells are very expensive and unaffordable for large scale applications. Combination of well-established thin film solar technologies is a promising strategy for fabrication of high-efficiency and cost-effective MJ solar cells. Dual junction solar cells combining Si and wide bandgap thin films are extensively studied. Infrared (IR) part of solar spectrum is not utilized by such dual junction. PCE can be boosted up to 49% by adding IR solar cell. However, there are only few materials with suitable bandgap for IR solar cells, and they contain toxic chemical elements and/or are expensive to synthesize. Evidently, there is an urgent need to explore novel materials for IR solar cells which is the main goal of the current Marie Skłodowska-Curie project. Chalcogenide-perovskites (CP) is an emerging class of materials that has been highly regarded for optoelectronic application. However, little experimental evidence of photovoltaic (PV) properties has been demonstrated. This project aims to unravel the potential of CP materials for IR PV. First bulk material will be synthesized and characterized to filter out CPs with 0.7 eV bandgap. Then, CP thin films will be fabricated and tested to evaluate potential for PV. The researcher dr. Rokas Kondrotas will be returning after a two-year post-doc in China. He will be contracted with Fiziniu ir Technologijos Mokslu Centras (FTMC) and supervised by prof. Arūnas Krotkus. Through the course of the project, applicant will adopt new competence, research and academic skills, and strengthen his position as the leading scientist in the newly emerging PV group.

Organic photo-detecting devices (OPDs) and solar cells (OSCs) both rely on thin films containing blends of electron donors and acceptors, sandwiched between transmissive and reflective electrodes. This project aims to significantly enhance the performance of such devices, by understanding and manipulating resonant optical cavity effects implemented in this simple device architecture. By tuning the cavity resonance wavelength within the optical gap of both donor and acceptor, weak absorption of intermolecular charge transfer (CT) states is significantly enhanced, opening up opportunities to extend the absorption window to longer wavelengths. Using recently reported new non-fullerene acceptors, we will fabricate and characterize wavelength selective resonant cavity enhanced OPDs with high external quantum efficiencies and short response times, operating at longer wavelengths (>1200 nm) than the current state-of-the-art OPDs. To improve OSC performance, we will tune the cavity resonance wavelength to the optical absorption peak wavelength of either the strongly absorbing donor or acceptor. This results in strong light-matter effects causing a redshift of the absorption onset. This approach will be exploited to overcome the rather large voltage losses and optical absorption losses in state-of-the-art OSC devices.