Photovoltaics for conveyor belts
Sinn Power and Recom have installed a 1 km-long PV system on a conveyor belt at a German gravel plant, using Sinn Power’s custom aluminum structure for conveyor belt applications.
South Korean startup offers portable, combinable solar chargers
Hanvixolar says four solar modules require about 5 hours of charging time to fully charge a smartphone. The mini panels use interdigitated back-contact solar cells from US manufacturer Maxeon.
India’s Cosmic PV Power builds 600 MW solar module factory
India’s Cosmic PV Power says it expects to start production from its second 600 MW factory by June, bringing its total solar panel manufacturing capacity to 850 MW.
Tin oxide-based organic solar cell hits 17.26% efficiency, 79% fill factor
Dutch scientists have used atomic layer deposition to build an organic solar cell with a tin oxide electron transport layer. This improved electron mobility and transparency, resulting in a record fill factor.
Aiko Solar expands solar cell, module capacity by 30 GW
China’s Aiko Solar plans to build a new factory in three 10 GW phases over the next five years. Construction of the first phase is expected to begin in early 2024.
TÜV offers guidance on plug-in balcony solar panels
Balcony solar modules are becoming increasingly popular. TÜV, a technical inspection association in Germany, has come up with tips to safely install and operate them.
High hopes for heterojunction
In recent months, China’s Risen Energy has posted impressive module efficiencies, closing in on 24%, with its hyper-ion series. The company will ramp up to large-scale production of these heterojunction products in the first half of 2023, and pv magazine recently caught up with Risen Energy’s Chief Information Officer Terry Wu to discuss this, as well as the company’s work on energy storage projects.
3D/2D perovskite solar cell treated with substituted PEAI hits 23.08% efficiency
An international research team has fabricated a quasi-2D perovskite solar cell with a special kind of phenethylammonium iodide (PEAI) salt to enhance hole extraction. The result is a 23.08%-efficient device that is also able to retain 95% of its initial efficiency after 900 hours.
Biden to maintain US solar tariff pause with veto
US legislators are moving to restore tariffs for the shipment of solar components from four major Southeast Asian nations, but US President Joe Biden will veto the move and maintain the pause on tariffs.
Scientists compare PVsyst, Comsol software in assessments of bifacial PV
Spanish researchers compared two software programs that are used to analyze bifacial PV systems. They found that PVsyst outperformed Comsol in calculating solar production in nearly all cases.
