![\"Acciona](\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/acciona-wind-solar-1024x538.jpg\")
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Wind power giant Acciona has installed flexible solar panels on the surface of a wind turbine tower at Bre\u00f1a Wind Farm in Spain.<\/p>\n
120 of the 1mm thick Heliatek HelioSol solar panels occupy around 50 metres of the tower’s surface area and have a collective capacity of 9.36kW.<\/p>\n
Unlike conventional solar cells<\/a> that use silicon as the primary material, organic solar cells are made from carbon-based materials.<\/p>\n \u201cThe hybridization project in Bre\u00f1a means the optimization of the use of space for renewable energy production and it will enable us to test the efficiency of organic photovoltaics, a technology that we believe has one of the best improvement curves in terms of technological efficiency,” said<\/a> Acciona Energy Innovation Director Bel\u00e9n Linares.<\/p>\n Much research and development has occurred in the field of organic photovoltaics (OPV) over the last decade. While flexible, light, cheap to produce and able to printed on a roll-to-roll process, something holding back the technology back has been efficiency. Conventional silicon-based solar panels<\/a> commonly used on rooftops have conversion efficiencies of around 16% – 19%, while the HelioSol<\/a> product offers around 6-7%.<\/p>\n However, OPV efficiency has been steadily improving at a research level. In March this year, a team at\u00a0 South China University of Technology demonstrated a conversion efficiency of over 16%<\/a> for single-junction organic solar cells (OSCs). But it can be a long journey from the lab to the rooftop and silicon solar panels are likely to rule the roost for a while yet.<\/p>\n The use of OPV on the Acciona turbine isn’t primarily to export what would be the comparatively little amount of energy produced to the mains grid. It is being trialled to determine effectiveness in delivering energy for the operation of the internal systems of the wind turbine. These include auxiliary systems when the turbine is in operation and various functions when it is in shutdown mode in the event of lack of wind or maintenance; during which energy would usually be drawn from the grid.<\/p>\n Later on in the trial, battery storage may be introduced.<\/p>\nCheap, Flexible Solar – But Lower Efficiency<\/h2>\n