Modules & Upstream Manufacturing

Egyptian researchers have developed a multi-string PV system with a converter control strategy, achieving 99.81% efficiency with a direct duty cycle for maximum power point tracking (MPPT).

A consortium of European thin-film PV manufacturers and research institutes are working to advance copper, indium, gallium, and selenium (CIGS) solar development in a €5.9 million ($6.4 million) project. It aims to achieve 25% cell power conversion efficiency by improving manufacturing processes and scaling up from lab-sized bifacial devices to small outdoor-tested modules for a range of applications.

Inno Neat has developed a solar-powered water filter that removes contaminants such as bacteria, viruses and heavy metals for rural communities.

China’s Hanersun has unveiled its new HItouch 5A module series, which is based on ABC cell tech and 182 mm wafers. The output ranges from 430 W to 600 W and the efficiency ratings are between 22.0% and 23.2%.

China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) says the nation deployed 33 GW of new residential PV capacity between January and September, bringing cumulative installations to 105 GW, while Flat Glass says it will invest $290 million in new glass factories in Indonesia.

Armor Group has acquired a 20% stake in French solar panel maker HoloSolis, marking its entry into perovskite-silicon tandem panel production, a mere week after abandoning organic solar module production.

Solar manufacturing capacity has been ramping up so quickly that even impressive installation growth cannot keep pace. Molly Morgan, senior research analyst at UK-based research firm Exawatt, explores the relationship between PV supply and demand and assesses the likelihood of overproduction.

Researchers have looked into the impact of potential regulated charge exemptions on two types of energy communities in 39 European countries. They have found that communities with collectively owned PV systems achieve greater savings.

A Chinese research team has built an all-perovskite tandem solar cell with a 19.6%-efficient wide bandgap top cell relying on a 2D/3D heterostructure and narrow bandgap bottom cell with a 21.3% efficiency. The tandem device showed remarkable stability by retaining 90% of its initial efficiency after 855 h of continuous operation.

Scientists from South Korea have designed new photovoltaic modules with both rectangular and triangular shapes and solar cells connected in parallel, which they said have higher partial-shading tolerance compared with cells connected in strings. The panels are reportedly less sensitive to partial-shading geometries than shingled modules.