IFE, or the Institute for Energy Technology, is a Norwegian research institute that have been a frontrunner of energy research since 1948. At IFE, we build bridges between research, education and industry. We have extensive infrastructure and full-scale laboratories where theoretical models are transformed into commercial activities. Several of these laboratories are related to the manufacturing, testing and operation of solar cells, including a strong focus on end-of-life strategies. The PV related research conducted at IFE includes more than 35 full-time researchers and engineers, and we are currently involved in both national and European projects.
In CIRCMAN5.0, IFE is involved in developing the requirements for circularity, environmental impact assessment, toolbox validation through pilots, and as exploitation manager working with communication and dissemination. For our technical contributions, we are working especially with life cycle assessment for end-of-life stage of PV modules as manufactured by the CIRCMAN5.0 pilots. Furthermore, we are leading the continuous validation and evaluation of the tools developed and implemented in CIRCMAN5.0, including evaluation of the toolbox’s technical properties, analyzing findings from the pilot use cases to assess their real-world applicability and benefits of the tools, and to provide recommendations for the broader adoption and integration of CIRCMAN5.0 solutions in the PV manufacturing sector. This fits well with our role as exploitation manager as well, which is centered around aiding all CIRCMAN5.0 partners with the exploitation of their results and project contributions during and after the project’s duration.
IFE is happy to be a partner in CIRCMAN5.0 for many reasons, one of which is the great fit of the project activities with our other activities. Through our coordination of the European projects RETRIEVE (Home – Retrieve Project) and EMPOWER (EMPOWER Horizon Europe Project: Overview | LinkedIn), we are working with both the reintegration of photovoltaic panel waste back into manufacturing as high value products as well as increased cost efficiency and disruptive innovations across the entire value chain, from silicon wafer production to high-efficiency, low-cost cell and module manufacturing. Furthermore, IFE has state-of-the-art laboratory-scale PV and BIPV module manufacturing equipment and characterization methods that will be utilized to further the CIRCMAN5.0 aims and activities.
