Modules & Upstream Manufacturing

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) researchers have gained insights into perovskite microstructure. After removing grain surface concavities in the crystalline grains of perovskite, they fabricated a solar cell with improved efficiency retention under standardized thermal cycling, damp heat, and maximum-power-point tracking tests.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) Secretariat has criticized China for an alleged lack of transparency in its state support framework and has urged the nation to improve its subsidy notification process.

India’s Union Budget will be presented next week. Developers in the country hope for lower goods and services tax (GST) and import duties on solar components, as well as a delay in enforcing the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) until domestic supplies improve.

Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners’ plan to build a “state-of-the-art” polysilicon manufacturing plant in Australia has taken a step forward, with Australian Silica Quartz starting a drilling program at a planned mine site that could provide feedstock for the proposed facility.

Germany-based Phytonics has developed a self-adhesive film with microstructures to reduce glare on PV modules. It is available in sheets and rolls for new and existing PV systems.

ZNShine Solar says it has applied to list H-shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX). The company runs three factories in China with a total capacity of about 10 GW.

Germany’s Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) says 220,000 balcony PV systems were installed in the country in the first half of the year, reaching 200 MW.

First Solar says it is evaluating potential infringement of its patents for its tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) tech, secured through the acquisition of TetraSun in 2013. The US thin-film solar module manufacturer has not named the companies involved or given a timeline for the investigation.

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.