Period of implementation of the project: 

Since 2018 – now

Challenge: 

There are and have always been piracy problems in the Solar industry. In most cases, the companies that are already known, well established, and trusted in the market, are affected by this problem. The dishonest entrepreneurs are alert towards these well-known companies and develop fake PV modules of low quality with a short lifetime and high degradation under trustworthy brand names. Unfortunately, the international market is full of such copycats.
This challenge has prompted AE Solar to initiate and create a unique mobile application to combat piracy problems and guarantee the authenticity of the PV module by integrating NFC-chips in all its panels. This is worldwide innovation and most importantly, even though the chips will be integrated into every PV module manufactured by AE Solar, the price for the customers will not be affected and remains the same for each of them.

Solution: 

Near-field communication (NFC)
It is a set of wireless communication protocols for communication between two electronic devices over a distance of 4 cm (11⁄2 in) or less.
NFC devices can act as electronic identity documents and keycards. NFC tags are passive data stores that can be read and are used in different cases like serial numbers or technical specifications of a product. This can be accomplished by a suitable smartphone that supports the NFC protocol.
It evolved from radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology and when your smartphone is close to the NFC-Chip, data can be transferred to the phone.
NFC is now an established communication technology, already being widely used. For example, Android, Apple, and Samsung Pay, for example, are well-known users of NFC technology, which enables simple and secure transfer of payments between consumers and POS systems with just one simple touch.

Results: 

• The innovation, introduced by the German company AE Solar, a manufacturer of high-quality PV modules, will ensure that each of its partners and customers will receive the original product quality, warranty, and guarantee. Anyone who owns a smartphone can thus check the authenticity of the AE Solar´s products in seconds and, once the actual information on the origin of the product is made available, receive a long-term, 100% guarantee of sustainability.
• In 1 Second NFC-Chip can provide the buyer with any important information regarding that PV module. The end customer can interact with the AE Solar, share his own requests, and get feedback from the professionals. This is a great way to communicate directly with the brand – AE Solar and track solar modules through a cloud database. From their side, the company takes care of the buyer easily and efficiently within the app’s interaction system.
• Future plans: Soon, AE Solar will even integrate SMARTER tools into this app, such as a panel-based monitoring program that provides monitoring and problem-solving for solar systems using AE SOLAR PV modules.

Category: Planet

Company: AE Solar

About the company:

AE Solar, TIER1 is a German manufacturer of solar panels which has proven itself to be a dynamic and progressive enterprise. The international team simultaneously tries to provide innovative products and solutions in the Solar industry that leads a brand to hold dozens of international awards in the renewable energy category.

Sustainable Development Goals