Building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) operate in a unique environment compared with field‐mounted systems and may experience elevated temperatures and recurrent or persistent shading. These stresses are expected to accelerate degradation, but there are few performance reports for true BIPV systems as defined in IEC 63092‐1. Herein, the long‐term performance (over 5–10 years) of 55 BIPV systems in Switzerland is reported. Using a year‐on‐year (YOY) performance loss rate (PLR) analysis, the median degradation rate of all systems together (fleet‐wide) is determined to be 0.06% per year (i.e., essentially no degradation), though there is a large spread of rates. Visual inspection of the systems indicated that some are shaded at times, so a fault detection and diagnosis algorithm (FDDA) is developed to estimate the shading severity of the systems using their daily production profiles. The fraction of time in shading fault presents a linear trend for the upper limit of PLRs, though by itself it is not a strong predictor of system performance. On average, the degree of shading is found to increase in newer systems, and decrease in larger capacity systems. These results highlight the importance of alleviating shading stresses through innovative BIPV module and system design.

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The EU crystalline silicon (c‐Si) PV manufacturing industry has faced strong foreign competition in the last decade. To strive in this competitive environment and differentiate itself from the competition, the EU c‐Si PV manufacturing industry needs to (1) focus on highly performing c‐Si PV technologies, (2) include sustainability by design, and (3) develop differentiated PV module designs for a broad range of PV applications to tap into rapidly growing existing and new markets. This is precisely the aim of the 3.5 years long H2020 funded HighLite project, which started in October 2019 under the work program LC‐SC3‐RES‐15‐2019: Increase the competitiveness of the EU PV manufacturing industry. To achieve this goal, the HighLite project focuses on bringing two advanced PV module designs and the related manufacturing solutions to higher technology readiness levels (TRL). The first module design aims to combine the benefits of n‐type silicon heterojunction (SHJ) cells (high efficiency and bifaciality potential, improved sustainability, rapidly growing supply chain in the EU) with the ones of shingle assembly (higher packing density, improved modularity, and excellent aesthetics). The second module design is based on the assembly of low‐cost industrial interdigitated back‐contact (IBC) cells cut in half or smaller, which is interesting to improve module efficiencies and increase modularity (key for application in buildings, vehicles, etc.). This contribution provides an overview of the key results achieved so far by the HighLite project partners and discusses their relevance to help raise the EU PV industries' competitiveness. We report on promising high‐efficiency industrial cell results (24.1% SHJ cell with a shingle layout and 23.9% IBC cell with passivated contacts), novel approaches for high‐throughput laser cutting and edge re‐passivation, module designs for BAPV, BIPV, and VIPV applications passing extended testing, and first 1‐year outdoor monitoring results compared with benchmark products.