PHASE3 PHOTOVOLTAICS INC — Department of Energy SBIR Phase II: 12e

Description

Manufactured and modular homes have roughly 8% of the US population living in them and make up over 11% of the new, singlefamily home starts each year. This fraction is even higher on rural and tribal lands, and yet, solar penetration in these affordable housing markets is negligible. Phase3 Photovoltaics Phase3PV has been developing the concept of pre installing solar and storage kits within manufactured home factories such that they can be shipped complete and operational along with the home. These turnkey systems are wholly inclusive of the entire balance of system components and dovetail into the energy efficient appliances through an intelligent power management hub. The aim of using massproduction practices, in a centralized facility, to dramatically lower the installation, permitting, and interconnection costs is gaining traction with homebuilders. The goal is to expedite the return on investment by maximizing selfgenerated power consumption at peak pricing times, such as by offsetting air conditioning loads in the summer months. An added benefit of this approach is that it provides solar power and energy equity to the most underserved portion of the U.S. market, so that they too can access the benefits of lower net monthly bills. Within the first oneyear SBIR award, Phase3PV completed a market analysis that outlines the commercialization potential of introducing solar and storage kits to manufactured homes being built in factories. At a market opportunity of nearly 1.2 bUSD and growing at a rate of ~15% year over year, 48% of these homes are being placed in rural settings and nearly 65% of those buying these homes have median incomes under 40 kUSD. Several economical and technical challenges persist that Phase3PV will address in this Phase II SBIR project in order to fully unlock this opportunity: The roofing construction methods of prefabricated houses differ from those of sitebuilt structures. Phase3PV made initial modifications to the racking, mounting and module frames to accommodate static and dynamic loading requirements of these specialized truss patterns, but further refinement is needed to optimize for the mass production, factory environment. Phase3PV has devised an approach to quantifying the degree of windshear and road vibration that a manufactured home fitted with a solar array experiences during transport. Higher volume statistics are needed to confirm that Phase3PV solutions completely mitigate stressors on the solar kit. Phase3PV has developed automated templates that produce design and permitting documents, creating a streamlined process for builders to conduct subsequent builds of the same home model. A collection of repeat home builds is needed to verify these operational efficiencies. Previously, all these challenges were cited as roadblocks to implementing this approach by the largest nationwide builders. But after deploying 5 prototype modular and manufactured homes in various settings, it was the actual generation and consumption data that began to validate cost models. Immediate and favorable returns are indeed possible for a group of homeowners who were previously unable to access the benefits of solar energy. Those models also show conservative projections of $1.50/Wp installed system costs are feasible using this factorybased approach. To accomplish this goal, three key focus areas will be cultivated within this project to include: Validate a LargeScale, KitSales Approach to Cost Compression in a Mass Production Setting. Create a Design and Kit Assembly Center to Inject ValueAdded Technologies to Standard Solar Offerings. Launch a Solar Roof BIPV Hybrid Product Customized for Manufactured Home Construction Practices. Followon work in this Phase II SBIR project is envisioned to encompass developerled neighborhood builds of solar and storage equipped manufactured homes that coordinate power sharing to form a microgrid, thereby delivering a clean path toward local energy resilience.