Modules & Upstream Manufacturing

A Spanish-Italian research team has investigated different system configurations for bifacial agrivoltaic solar arrays deployed in olive groves and has found that the solar modules’ tilt angle has a significant impact on power yield while their height plays a crucial role on increasing agricultural yield.

A Japanese-German research team has fabricated a TOPCon PV device by replacing common ion implantation techniques with plasma immersion ion implantation (PIII). The resulting device showed almost the same efficiency as TOPCon cells produced with conventional Beam line ion implantation systems.

PV module imports fell by 1% year on year in Brazil in 2023, according to a new report from solar consultancy Greener.

Netherlands-based Autarco has developed a new mounting structure for large PV modules in commercial and industrial arrays.

The scientists built the panel with perovskite solar cells treated with trifluoromethane sulfonate to combat iodide defects. The mini module reportedly achieved the highest efficiency ever recorded for its size to date, with the result being confirmed by the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

Solarcycle has invested $344 million in a solar manufacturing facility in Polk County, Georgia. The factory has been designed to use recycled materials from retired solar panels to produce new solar glass, positioning Solarcycle as one of the first manufacturers of specialized glass for crystalline-silicon PV in the US market.

Verde Technologies, a U.S.-based spinoff of the University of Vermont specializing in single junction and all thin-film tandem perovskite solar technologies, has demonstrated that its coating processes are transferable to existing commercial roll-to-roll manufacturing lines in a project with compatriot manufacturer Verico Technology.

South Korean solar module maker Qcells told its local team this week that its Australian subsidiary will be closed. The decision underscores the highly competitive nature of the Australian solar marketplace and the company’s strategic decision to focus on its home market, the United States, and Europe.

Researchers in Sweden have outlined a new methodology to identify suitable surfaces for agrivoltaic projects in their home country. They found that approximately 8.6% – roughly 38,485 km2 – of its land has the potential to host agrivoltaic facilities.

Researchers from China and the UK have improved the Adam optimization algorithm to achieve better results in dust detection on PV panels. The optimized algorithm reportedly performed better than most common algorithms used for dust detection.