France’s 2012 legislation to improve the energy performance of new buildings makes using renewable energy mandatory. Hybrid solar panels (that combine both solar PV and thermal technologies in one panel) are one of the possible responses to this new requirement. And yet, for a self-consumption model with no buyback tariff, hybrid solar panel manufacturing costs remain a hurdle to their widespread adoption.

The objective of the Dualplas project is to build three exchanger prototypes for low-cost PV modules within three years. To reach this goal, drastic changes must be made to both the processes and materials used.

The competitively-priced hybrid collector, slated for release in 2020, will provide additional support for self-consumption and will respond to the local domestic hot water needs of single- and multi-family residential buildings.