Biosphere Solar
Background
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Biosphere Solar B.V. is a steward-owned company under the One Biosphere Foundation. Its mission is to 'bring fair and circular standards to the solar industry and market'. Biosphere Solar is developing open technologies in the field of solar, with a focus on solar panels. The modules of Biosphere Solar are designed to be opened, upgradeable, repairable and recyclable.
The company is currently headquartered in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and carries out activities across Europe and China.
History
[edit | edit source]Biosphere Solar started in 2020 in the Netherlands via a group of master students from the TU Delft and Leiden University. The inital project was coursework by Siemen Brinksma looking at the potential of creating open-source and circular solar panels. It was then developed into a larger project by Perine Fleury[1] and then Tim Kaasjager amongst other students. The three individuals became the founders and stewards of Biosphere Solar, and were joined a year later by Ian Lin as a fourth founder and steward. Dozens of individuals have contributed to the work of Biosphere Solar over the past years, see full list below. It was incorporated in 2023, under a steward-ownership structure.
- More information on their open-source work can be found on their wikifactory .
- Regular videos about their work and research are posted on their youtube channel
- And you can find them on LinkedIn for more granular updates about their activities.
Solar Panel Designs
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The module designs of Biosphere Solar have changed in: size, cell use, efficiency, edge-seal application, weight, thickness of glass, spacer design, and more. Each iteration (version) solves at least one previously experienced challenge.
The first designs (V0.0 to V0.4) are further described on wikifactory.
- 100% manual labour (including soldering of cells and the layout of spacers)
- Spacers from wooden pieces
- Non-specialised glass
The next designs (V1.0 to V1.4) have the following features:
- Changes in glass from 4mm to 2mm to 3.2mm.
- Solar glass
- Automated soldering
- Manual layup
- Spacer dots from PLA 3D printed frames to automated extrusion polymer-based dots
See V1.4 TOPCON ReModule for production manual, disassembly manual, labelling, and much more.
Current areas of research
[edit | edit source]Biospher Solar's current areas of research include:
- Modular framing
- Liquid filling
- Liquid composition
- Spacer-dot composition
- Production line layup
- Liquid filling machinery
- Spacer dot machinery (partially completed)
Contributors of Biosphere Solar
[edit | edit source](in order of appearance on website)
- Perine Fleury
- Siemen Brinksma
- Tim Kaasjager
- Ian Lin (Yi-En Lin)
- Alberto Poli
- Zola Fung-A-Jou
- Liam Mcclain
V1 Contributors
- Leander Leitner
- Sarah Linnarz
- Arwen Timmers
- Sebastian Weemans
- Thomas Rijsman
- Cayo Zandbergen
- Emir Dag
- George Kostopoulos
- Shubham Litke
- Pieter van Eig
- Ibrahim Ayadi
- Maria Peiro Torralba
- Simon Schilt
- Mary Jan Marquez
- Youp Kroon
- Keshav Shukla
V0 Contributors
- Fulvia Iannota
- Myrthe Coster
- Keshav Shukla
- Sam Boermans
- Mark Shenouda
- Harshrasj Gali
- Mannes van de Winkel
- Asli Demir
- Judit Klooster
- Puck Wynia
- Mihir Mahajan
- Liam Mcclain
- Youp Kroon
- Rutger Ritsma
- Falko Baatsen
- Aitor Wean
- Kushal Gorti
- Domonkos Planer
- Victor Beccaria
- Maitheli Nikam
- Sujith Reddy
- Karthik Deivamani
- Isa Huipen
- Raju Pruspanati
- Alice Buchner
- Sil de Leeuw
- Joey Nijnens
- Eunice Koid
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| License | CC-BY-SA-4.0 |
| Cite as | Perine F (2025). "Biosphere Solar". Appropedia. Retrieved June 21, 2026. |