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Introduction

EU energy policy is increasingly clear: modern buildings must not only measure energy use, but also understand it, compare it, and actively improve it. The recast ** Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (Directive (EU) 2024/1275) ** establishes upgraded requirements for Building Automation and Control Systems (BACS), with key deadlines in December 2024, May 2026, and December 2029.

What The EPBD Requires

For certain non-residential buildings, EU rules now require the installation of a Building Automation and Control System (BACS), particularly where systems are large enough to matter and where doing so is technically and economically feasible:

Introduction:

Solar panel cleaning sits at an odd intersection in PV operations: skip it and you lose energy to dust and dirt, but do it too often or too aggressively and you risk damaging the very modules you’re trying to protect. This article looks at what actually drives that decision: how much soiling really costs, how cleaning itself can go wrong, and how performance monitoring with Enectiva can help operators clean based on evidence rather than a fixed calendar. Solar panels are often described as low maintenance assets, but low maintenance does not mean no maintenance. Dust, pollen, bird droppings, industrial emissions, and other contaminants gradually accumulate on module surfaces and reduce the amount of sunlight reaching the solar cells. Globally, soiling is one of the most important environmental causes of photovoltaic underperformance. IEA-PVPS – the International Energy Agency’s Photovoltaic Power System Program, a collaborative research program where member countries share technical knowledge on solar PV has estimates that soiling can reduce annual PV energy production by roughly 3–5% globally [1], although the actual impact varies considerably according to climate, rainfall, pollution, module tilt, and local conditions.

Periods of high temperatures and water scarcity are increasing the importance of efficient water management across Europe. According to the European Environment Agency, water scarcity affects around 30% of EU territory and 33% of the population during at least one quarter of the year.

In companies and larger buildings, however, normal water consumption may not be the biggest issue. Hidden leaks and water use outside expected operating hours can be much more significant. These may include a leaking toilet, a pipe leak or malfunctioning equipment. In larger facilities, such problems can continue unnoticed for long periods.

Summary

Solar assets lose energy over time for two different reasons: (1) modules slowly produce less power each year (true degradation), and (2) plant equipment fails or drifts (inverters, connectors, combiner boxes, switchgear, cables), creating downtime and hidden losses. Enectiva primarily helps with the second category: it reduces the effect of degradation by detecting underperformance early, triggering alerts, and shortening the time a system spends in a faulted or inefficient state. This article explains (a) what “degradation effect” means at the plant level, (b) which loss mechanisms Enectiva can reduce, and (c) practical examples for both rooftop PV and utility-scale plants.

Introduction:

This short briefing compares leading photovoltaic (PV) cell technologies and summarises where each stands in terms of record research-cell efficiency and representative commercial module performance (2024–2025). It focuses on high efficiency crystalline silicon architectures, perovskite based tandems and single junction perovskites, and established thin film CdTe and CIGS, highlighting key advantages, limitations, and commercial readiness.

1.1 Advanced single-junction crystalline silicon

Single‑junction crystalline‑silicon (c‑Si) cells use one p–n junction in a silicon wafer; modern records rely on n‑type wafers plus advanced surface passivation and low‑recombination contacts (TOPCon/HJT/back‑contact).