Modules & Upstream Manufacturing

A team of researchers in Germany has fabricated a non-fullerene acceptor-based organic photovoltaic cell featuring a bilayer solution-processed hole transporting layer. It recorded a power conversion efficiency of 17.1% and maintained 93% of its initial efficiency after 1,800 hours under continuous solar cell operation at 60 C.

Researchers in Italy have designed a water-source heat pump system intended for generating cooling, heating and domestic hot water in social housing stock built during the 1970s–1990s. The novel concept integrates photovoltaic-thermal energy with thermal storage and promises a seasonal coefficient of performance of 5.

A research group has examined the potential for PV on building walls and rooftops across Norway. It says that up to 36% of the feasible solar energy, or approximately 31 GW, could be integrated into the national power system to match generation and consumption patterns.

First Solar has commissioned the Jim Nolan Center for Solar Innovation in Lake Township, Ohio. It includes a high-tech pilot manufacturing line to produce full-sized prototypes of thin-film and tandem PV modules.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, OPIS, a Dow Jones company, provides a quick look at the main price trends in the global PV industry.

The U.K.-based technology company has launched Endurance, an electric transport refrigeration system with integrated battery and solar PV. It is built to compete with diesel-powered systems.

A research group including scientists from Chinese module maker Longi has developed an undoped monocrystalline heterojunction cell that uses the promising MXene compound for the hole transport layer. The experimental device achieved an efficiency of 12.2% and was able to retain around 86% of its initial efficiency after 105-day exposure in ambient environment. 

Jupiter International has obtained $36 million to expand its PV manufacturing operations, including the construction of a 1.8 GW solar cell facility, as well as a joint venture with AmpIn Energy for 1.2 GW of integrated solar cell and module capacity each.

The tool has been billed as the world’s first independent daily spot market price assessment for solar panels. S&P Global says it has been launched to aid transparency in technology pricing as solar modules become increasingly commoditized.

Despite global overcapacity, several factors may contribute to a slight increase in solar panel prices in Brazil, with shipping costs and quotas for fiscal exemptions on imported PV modules playing a key role.