In the past 25 years, many integrated photovoltaics (IPV) products have been introduced and demonstrated. Mostly BIPV products, but more recently also IIPV and VIPV products. However, large scale deployment and massive market adoption of these technologies and products have not yet taken place. We are at the brink of a huge scale-up and capacity build-up of PV in Europe, that will have a large effect on our living environment. Therefore, it is now urgent and essential that IPV products become widely available and affordable. This is important (1) to generate solar electricity where the demand is (in the built environment) and (2) to enable multifunctional use of area and space in the built environment. Several parties in the MC2.0 consortium have more than 20 years of experience in IPV development and as such have been involved in many earlier projects and studies. We believe that the number one barrier for large scale market uptake of IPV is the high cost. Other - secondary but also important – barriers are immature sector cooperation and certification issues. The overarching ambition of the MC2.0 project is to demonstrate a cost breakthrough for IPV by means of an advanced manufacturing approach, referred to as “mass customization”. In coherence with this approach, we will contribute to solving the other identified barriers. To realize this ambition, the MC2.0 consortium brings together experts and companies on materials for PV laminates (including PV cells), on manufacturing of PV laminates, on manufacturing of IPV products and on market and application of IPV products.

The 21st century has been dominated by an ambient digitalization, a trend that is mirrored by the use of catchwords such as Smart Energy, Smart Homes & Smart Cities and the increasing use of electronics in everyday objects. Current IoT scenarios expect a number of around 75 billion connected devices by 2025, and the powering of these devices by batteries will result in a considerable amount of potentially hazardous waste. The spread of electronic systems in remote locations should thus be accompanied by a change in power generation, making use of dislocated and disordered energy sources. A cost-efficient and environmentally friendly realization of energy harvesting (EH), however, is still a challenge, as the required input of functional material and electronic components in comparison to the energy output is high and often involves lead-based materials, manufacturing methods that consume high amounts of energy and costly assembly steps. SYMPHONY aims for the development of new materials for low-cost and scalable printing and structuring processes to fabricate multimodal EH solutions based on the ferroelectric polymer P(VDF-TrFE) as well as printed energy storage devices and rectifiers not using rare elements and heavy metals. The hybrid integration of these devices on flexible films with low power harvesting ICs will result in a specific cost below 1€/mW (well below the value for piezoceramic and electrodynamic EH). The reduction of hazardous waste and energy consumption in SYMPHONY starts with material selection and manufacturing, but ultimately unfolds its full potential in the most CO2-relevant application areas: renewable energy generation, room heating/cooling and mobility. The innovative EH concept of SYMPHONY used to power distributed sensor nodes will reduce emissions by 50% increasing the efficiency of wind turbines (Smart Energy), making room heating/cooling 20% more efficient (Smart Home) and supporting the transformation of urban mobility (Smart City).

To prevent the worst outcomes of climate change and increase Europe’s energy independence, urgent and massive efforts are required to transform Europe’s energy production to renewable and secure sources. Photovoltaics (PV) has emerged as a key technology in these efforts with projected annual growth rates of 30-35% over the next years. A strong base of PV industry across the entire value chain is, therefore, of strategic importance for Europe to support this strong market growth. Since the currently dominating silicon (Si) PV technology is approaching its efficiency limit, PEPPERONI aims to 'spice up' cost-efficient industrial Si cells with a thin perovskite top cell in a monolithic tandem device. This technology promises the best ratio of performance over manufacturing costs and therefore enables to push solar module efficiencies beyond the limit of Si at lowest CO2 footprint. The key objective of PEPPERONI is to enable large-scale production of such tandem PV modules in Europe by (i) demonstrating 26%-efficient modules on industrial scale; (ii) developing fabrication processes for high-volume manufacturing; (iii) extending the operational stability of tandems to meet market expectations (>30 yr); and (iv) removing any human health or environmental risk. To reach these objectives, PEPPERONI capitalises on the world-leading tandem PV expertise of a strong and complementary consortium: 4 equipment suppliers, 2 material suppliers, 1 service provider, 9 R&D institutes and universities that hold tandem efficiency world records, and one of the world's largest PV module manufacturers: PEPPERONI coordinator Q CELLS. When joining forces, their excellence puts PEPPERONI in the unique position to set up a tandem pilot line in Europe by 2026. This will establish a robust and competitive European innovation base and PV supply chain, putting all involved partners well on track towards GW-scale production of solar modules in Europe by 2030.

The concerns connected to petroleum-based origin of polymeric materials and the problems related to the accumulation of plastic waste in the environment need an urgent solution. One possible strategy to address this dramatic situation is the exploitation of bio-based resources as precursors for polymers. In particular, the valorization of agro-food wastes via extraction of polymeric precursors could be a winning strategy. Furthermore, the implementation of dynamicity in crosslinked polymeric materials with the introduction into the polymeric networks of labile noncovalent and dynamic bonds capable of undergoing reversible formation and cleavage, will give to the corresponding materials innovative recyclability properties.Within this frame, this project aims to face the complex challenge of the production of sustainable and recyclable polymeric thermosets. The proposed target can be reached by exploiting the peculiar properties of vitrimers, which allows a direct recyclability or reprocessability of the polymeric networks. On the other hand, the use of bio-based polymers holds great promises for the development of sustainable materials. Therefore, the integration of vitrimer properties with bio-based materials appears a great combination of choice to achieve the expected aim. For this reasons, SURE-Polymer has assembled an international team of researchers whose expertise spans green chemical synthesis, biopolymer functionalization, polymer photochemistry, vitrimer design and 3D-printing technology for object fabrication. The project will be run within the international and intersectoral consortium where different and complementary competences of the partners will be shared and exploited creating synergisms. The aim is within the objective of the MSCA-SE call, where transfer of skills and competences will lead to improved employability and career prospective of the involved seconded staff members.