News & Analysis
Leti codevelops sun-powered roller shutter
Anne-Francoise Pele
6/22/2012 6:11 AM EDT
GRENOBLE – Transferring technological value to SMEs is an objective per se for France-based CEA-Leti research center. One illustration is the co-development of a solar-powered roller shutter with France-based Bubendorff SAS.
The integration of smart systems in our daily lives –housing, lighting, e-health, and transportation- opens new opportunities for innovation to the industry. CEA-Leti has developed methodologies to help SMEs, and in this case Bubendorff, define the innovation process from the concept to the product. This includes the identification of the sweet spot, the integration of the most advanced technologies and the support for industrialization.
After six years of collaboration with CEA-Leti, Bubendorff said it has introduced a roller shutter 100-percent powered by the sun. The energy savings is 61kwh per year and per roller shutter, claimed Thomas Fritsch, Bubendorff's product development director, at the 14th Leti Annual Review this week in Grenoble, France.
Source: Bubendorff
The partnership with CEA-Leti led to the development of an autonomous communicating product with several under projects in electronics, power optimization, motor, and energy management battery. CEA-Leti said it employed 21 man-year, and the first field prototype was launched in 2009.
In 2010, Fritsch said its PV partner Schott decided to stop its production in individual amorphous PV cells. A new mono-crystalline solution was then identified and tested within six months. Still in 2010, an industrialization study was carried out in parallel with the R&D study.
“Our main objective today is to secure our PV furniture so that tomorrow we don’t have risks. We worked with Schott but now with Q-Cells.”
Bubendorff now holds twelve patents concerning power optimization, the dynamic control of a roller shutter, the optimal drive of a battery and the detection of objects.
Fritsch said the technology for the battery is Nickel-Metal Hydride (NiMH) battery. “We don’t load and unload the battery completely to ensure the maximum lifetime of the battery. Today, we don’t feel there are good solutions with Li-ion.”
The roller shutter can be installed in all exposures including the north façade of the house. Two limits, however, remain: the balcony and opposite walls.
Fritsch outlined the good complementarities between CEA-Leti and Bubendorff. “Our chance was that we had a safe feeling for the production launch. With a hundred roller shutters a day, we want more. The feedbacks are good so the volume is growing.”
All shutters are tested for 21000 cycles, which represents about 30 years. The PV life expectancy is estimated to be 20 years, Fritsch concluded.
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The integration of smart systems in our daily lives –housing, lighting, e-health, and transportation- opens new opportunities for innovation to the industry. CEA-Leti has developed methodologies to help SMEs, and in this case Bubendorff, define the innovation process from the concept to the product. This includes the identification of the sweet spot, the integration of the most advanced technologies and the support for industrialization.
After six years of collaboration with CEA-Leti, Bubendorff said it has introduced a roller shutter 100-percent powered by the sun. The energy savings is 61kwh per year and per roller shutter, claimed Thomas Fritsch, Bubendorff's product development director, at the 14th Leti Annual Review this week in Grenoble, France.
Source: Bubendorff
The partnership with CEA-Leti led to the development of an autonomous communicating product with several under projects in electronics, power optimization, motor, and energy management battery. CEA-Leti said it employed 21 man-year, and the first field prototype was launched in 2009.
In 2010, Fritsch said its PV partner Schott decided to stop its production in individual amorphous PV cells. A new mono-crystalline solution was then identified and tested within six months. Still in 2010, an industrialization study was carried out in parallel with the R&D study.
“Our main objective today is to secure our PV furniture so that tomorrow we don’t have risks. We worked with Schott but now with Q-Cells.”
Bubendorff now holds twelve patents concerning power optimization, the dynamic control of a roller shutter, the optimal drive of a battery and the detection of objects.
Fritsch said the technology for the battery is Nickel-Metal Hydride (NiMH) battery. “We don’t load and unload the battery completely to ensure the maximum lifetime of the battery. Today, we don’t feel there are good solutions with Li-ion.”
The roller shutter can be installed in all exposures including the north façade of the house. Two limits, however, remain: the balcony and opposite walls.
Fritsch outlined the good complementarities between CEA-Leti and Bubendorff. “Our chance was that we had a safe feeling for the production launch. With a hundred roller shutters a day, we want more. The feedbacks are good so the volume is growing.”
All shutters are tested for 21000 cycles, which represents about 30 years. The PV life expectancy is estimated to be 20 years, Fritsch concluded.
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Sanjib.Acharya
6/22/2012 12:51 PM EDT
In India, mostly the roller shutters are driven manually by hand :)
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chanj
6/22/2012 1:36 PM EDT
This seems to be a good product into the smart home category. The question is how much it costs. For home use, roller shutters won't be rolling up and down often. For commercial such as hotel, the situation may change. Cost effectiveness is really important to commercial. In another words, if the energy saving doesn't cover the cost of the product, the incentive of getting one of these will be low.
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PJames
6/22/2012 8:37 PM EDT
Is this for locations off grid? I can't imagine anyone adding the expense of PV and a storage battery if they already have power. It's not at all cost effective to have battery storage in each individual device within a home/business.
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prabhakar_deosthali
6/23/2012 7:36 AM EDT
This kind of application has more value not for rolling shutters ( which is may be once in a day job mostly handled manually) but for automated sliding gates for a factory for allowing entry exit of vehicles. Such operations are frequent and if the manpower can be saved by automatic operation then it is worthwhile the cost spent on expensive solar panels.
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Sanjib.Acharya
6/24/2012 3:42 AM EDT
Yeah...very well thought ideas! These applications would be much better than the rolling shutter idea for compensating the high cost of the PV cells and NiMH batteries.
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DrQuine
6/24/2012 12:03 PM EDT
If the shutter is well lubricated and well balanced, it should be possible to open and close with very little energy - perhaps tapping off a central solar cell power system that runs other systems as well.
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kinnar
6/24/2012 3:58 PM EDT
It is good solution for saving power, but as far as the life of the product is greatly dependent on the batteries. It would be cost effective is multiple shutters can be operated on single battery. That will reduce the maintenance man hours.
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PJames
6/24/2012 5:53 PM EDT
Solar power may be good, but I question whether building it into specific devices is a good idea. As you point out, the storage cannot be shared. Also, as can be seen from the picture the solar cell is vertical... hardly ideal even if assumed to be facing in the right direction, which many would not. It would seem far better from an engineering standpoint to have a larger panel on the roof at the proper slant and pointing in the right direction.
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anne-francoise.pele
7/16/2012 11:25 AM EDT
Thanks Kinnar for your comment. In his presentation, Fritsch specified that roller shutters have a seven year full warranty, which covers parts, mancraft and travel cost of the mancraft.
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