Flame Security International

Solar Skin

FSI is the lead industry partner in a project to develop a novel non-combustible and highly durable polymer-based membrane for buildings that can generate solar energy.

Flame Security International (FSI) is working with an expert team from UNSW and some of Australia’s largest property and building groups to develop a range of unique Building Applied Photovoltaics (BAPV) products.  These products will use a perovskite as a cost effective alternative to silicon.  It is intended that perovskite solar cells will be manufactured in Australia and provide building owners with an option to generate clean power from the vertical sides of their buildings including windows.

The design features of these perovskite products are as follows:

  • Low cost and simple manufacturing process compared to silicon which uses large amounts of toxic chemicals and non sustainable power during the manufacturing process of silicon modules
  • Designed and manufactured in Australia
  • Comparable efficiencies to silicon
  • Can be used in conjunction with silicon in a tandem mode to boost the efficiency of silicon to approximately 30% since perovskite can be made to be semi transparent
  • Able to be deployed to collect solar irradiance from non direct and reflected sunlight
  • Can be developed as a solution to be placed on windows as well as external wall surfaces
  • Can be applied to other large vertical infrastructure
  • Energy generated from the solar skin can be stored locally within the building in a novel, non-toxic and safe battery system or it can supplied directly into the building’s electrical management system for immediate use within the building and the electricity grid