Manufacturing giant JinkoSolar has set another world record for n-type solar cell efficiencies with its TOPCon technology, this time pushing to 25.4%. The new world record was confirmed by JET laboratories in Japan, and surpasses JinkoSolar’s previous record of 25.25% set back in May.

Ahead of the COP26 conference beginning in Glasgow later this month, the International Energy Agency this week published its World Energy Outlook report for 2021. While it expects rapid growth in renewable energy, the report finds that, on top of currently stated policies, annual energy transition-related investments would need to reach US$4 trillion annually by 2030.

Scientists in the United States working with silicon anodes for lithium-ion batteries have managed to model key mechanisms that lead to fast developing performance loss in the anodes. Understanding what causes the silicon to swell up and subsequently fall apart, the scientists say, is an important step to preventing it, and producing long lasting, high-capacity batteries.

The latest edition of DNV’s Energy Transition Outlook report finds that, while there are plenty of encouraging forecasts for renewable energy, decarbonization ambitions laid out in the Paris agreements are unlikely to be met. The report finds that in most cases Covid-19 recovery policy has served to lock in emissions-intensive systems, and that urgent action is needed to push decarbonization in hard to electrify sectors such as shipping and heavy industry.

The Green Climate Fund has announced it will provide US$150 million in funding to the Desert to Power initiative – a project led by the African Development Bank and spanning several countries that aims to build 10 GW of PV generation capacity in various projects across the Sahel region to the south of the Sahara Desert.

Ireland-based WElink Group and China Triumph International Engineering Co. Ltd have announced the completion of the 219 MW Solara 4 project in Portugal’s Algarve region. An inauguration ceremony for the project was held last week, and it is expected to begin full operations before the end of October.

India headquartered multinational Reliance Industries, through its subsidiary Reliance New Energy Solar Limited, yesterday announced the acquisition of Norway headquartered module manufacturer REC Group. The move comes as Reliance pushes forward with its US$10 billion plan to move in on the renewable energy industry, having also this week announced acquisition of a 40% share in EPC provider Sterling & Wilson.

Half-cut solar cells have quickly grown to become an industry standard, promising more power through reduced cell-to-module losses, among other advantages. Innovative processes have been introduced to reduce cell damage during the actual cutting process, but even these still leave behind an unpassivated area at the edge of the cell, which can result in performance losses. As cell efficiencies increase, this will only become more of a problem. pv magazine examines the possible solutions.

Scientists led by Cambridge University fabricated an ‘ultrathin’ solar cell, just 80 nanometers thick, using gallium arsenide. The III-V cell achieved 9.08% conversion efficiency, and its developers have demonstrated in simulations that it could reach 16% with further optimization. Given its light weight and intrinsic resistance to radiation, the cell could be suitable to power satellites and other applications in space.

German equipment supplier M10 and research institute Fraunhofer ISE will unveil a new prototype stringer for shingled module layouts at the Intersolar Europe trade show later this week. Employing an offset layout for the shingles, the approach promises a relative efficiency gain of up to 6%, compared to a conventional half-cell module.