Swiss startup makes first attempt to deploy solar on railways
Swiss startup Sun-Ways has developed a patented solution under which it directly rolls out solar modules between railway tracks like a carpet. The panels can be removed at any time for maintenance work.
Cooling solar modules with vacuum pressure
Scientists in Indonesia have developed a vacuum technique to lower the temperature of PV modules below the ambient air temperature. They applied it to a solar module in a casing that is resistant to negative pressure.
Trina Solar’s new 6.5 GW Vietnam wafer plant to exclusively supply US market
Trina Solar said it will start operating a new 6.5 GW solar wafer factory in Vietnam from mid-2023 to exclusively supply the utility, commercial and industrial (C&I) segments in the United States, as well as the US residential solar market.
From 300 GW to 3,000 GW per year – a utopia?
The photovoltaic industry is expected to achieve annual global expansion of 300 GW as early as this year. That sounds like a lot, but is it enough? In view of climate change and rising energy demand, it is time for a new vision.
First attempt to build solar cells based on gold polyhalide hybrid perovskite
Scientists in Sweden have proposed the use of gold polyiodide compounds in monolithic perovskite solar cells. They built a lead-free device that achieved an efficiency of 0.052%.
JA Solar plans to build 2 GW solar module factory in US
JA Solar’s new manufacturing facility is expected to start commercial operations in the fourth quarter of this year.
Q Cells announces $2.5 billion investment in US solar supply chain
Q Cells plans to manufacture 3.3 GW of solar ingots, wafers, cells, and finished modules in a new facility in the US state of Georgia.
Video: Market outlook for vertical rooftop solar
Norway’s Over Easy Solar AS introduced a new vertical PV system for rooftop applications last year. pv magazine spoke to CEO Trygve Mongstad about system prices and future market prospects for vertical rooftop solar tech.
Perovskite-silicon tandem PV cell with textured wafers hits 28.1% efficiency
Researchers in Saudi Arabia have built a perovskite-silicon tandem cell with textured silicon wafers to offer superior light trapping. The device has an open-circuit voltage of 1,851 mV, a short-circuit current of 18.9 mA/cm2, and a fill factor of 80.1%.
Polysilicon costs have slid by 96% per watt over past two decades
The volume of polysilicon per watt has fallen by 87% since 2004, while the inflation-adjusted price for polysilicon has dropped by 76%, according to Fraunhofer ISE.
