Technology multinational, Apple Inc. has announced that its global operations are now 100% powered by clean energy. Additionally, another nine of Apple’s manufacturing partners have committed to powering their production with 100% clean energy, meaning a total of 23 suppliers have now made this commitment.

Scientists at European solar research organization, Solliance have announced the achievement of 14.5% conversion efficiency on a perovskite module. The module uses a glass substrate, and the efficiency was measured on an aperture area of 144 cm².

The large-scale solar markets of China, the USA, and Europe have experienced vastly different fortunes over the past couple of years. As China has boomed and the U.S. held steady, Europe has seen growth rates plunge. But nothing is constant in PV, and each of these three vital markets faces a series of unique challenges and opportunities, as pv magazine discovered.

Researchers based at Los Alamos National Laboraory in New Mexico, the U.S., and Rice University in Houston have found that constant illumination ‘relaxes’ the structure of perovskite solar cell material, increasing its conversion efficiency.

Scientists from the University of Wollongong in Australia have developed battery cells based on sodium-ion technology, which the university says can achieve excellent cycling stability and easily be scaled up for mass production.

pv magazine teams up with solar market analysts at IHS Markit to run through the top 10 crystalline silicon cell manufacturers of 2017, and the events that shaped their market landscape throughout the year.

Chinese module manufacturer, JA Solar has issued a statement refuting assertions made by SolarWorld in hearings conducted last year, which were reported last week in the findings of United States Trade Representative (USTR) report into Chinese practices related to intellectual property.

Japanese electronics giant, Sharp has announced the achievement of a 25.09% conversion efficiency, from a cell utilizing both heterojunction (HJT) and back contact technology. The measurement has been validated by Japan Electrical Safety & Environment Technology Laboratories (JET).

Scientists from the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS) have announced the development of a new wet chemical process to allow multi-cSi wafers to be cut with diamond wire saw technology, and subsequently textured to reduce their reflectivity.

European solar research organization, Solliance and the Energy Research Center of the Netherlands (ECN) have announced the achievement of 26.3% efficiency on a transparent perovskite solar cell combined with a crystalline silicon solar cell.