India installed 1.6 GW of rooftop solar in 2022
India reached almost 8.8 GW of cumulative installed rooftop PV capacity at the end of December 2022. The state of Gujarat led in terms of deployment, with a 24% share of rooftop solar installations.
Fraunhofer ISE founder, solar pioneer Adolf Goetzberger dies
Adolf Goetzberger, the founder of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE and an early proponent of photovoltaics, passed away on Feb. 24 at the age of 94.
US solar developers take on module manufacturing risks
Multiple deals over the last six months have shown that solar panel manufacturers are using long-term solar module supply agreements with developers to drive factory finance.
FuturaSun unveils n-type heterojunction solar modules
Italy’s FuturaSun has developed new bifacial double-glass PV modules based on n-type heterojunction (HJT) half-cut multi-busbar solar cells. The Velvet Pro line features M6 cells with power ratings ranging from 380 W to 480 W for rooftop applications. The Velvet Premium line features M12 cells, with power ratings from 615 W to 700 W for large-scale applications.
Chinese IT company enters solar module business with 8 GW factory
China’s 35.com said it will invest CNY 1.5 billion ($218.4 million) in the production of solar modules based on heterojunction cells.
Perovskite alkylammonium chloride solar cell achieves 26.08% efficiency
The US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has certified that a South Korean research team has achieved a 25.73% efficiency rating with a perovskite PV cell based on alkylammonium chlorides. The champion device built by the scientists reached an efficiency of 26.08%.
In search of the perfect polymer for PV backsheets, encapsulants
Scientists in Austria have examined the impact of different backsheet and encapsulant material combinations on module performance and degradation. This led them to develop a model to quantify the degradation rates of different materials, potentially helping manufacturers to identify better, longer-lasting materials for these vital module components.
Dutch study confirms feasibility of PV plants on dikes
A Dutch consortium recently tested four different PV system configurations along water in the Netherlands. The country has approximately 17,000 km of dikes and a preliminary study has shown that they offer the potential for 11 GW of solar capacity.
Storing solar power by incinerating metals
Scientists in Sweden have proposed the use of excess wind and solar power to incinerate metals such as aluminum and iron, in order to produce heat that could be used to generate electricity or hydrogen.
Australian rooftop solar capacity hits 20 GW
Australia’s rooftop solar capacity will overtake coal-fired capacity to become the country’s largest power generator in April, when a New South Wales coal plant is set to shut down, says solar consultancy SunWiz.
