Modules & Upstream Manufacturing

The world’s energy sector is concentrated in solar, wind, electricity transmission/distribution and hydroelectric power. For example, investment in solar power plants alone is higher than investment in natural gas, coal-fired and nuclear power plants combined. This is encouraging, but another fact is worrying: China’s exports of solar modules to Europe in the first four months of 2022 were 2.5 times higher compared to 2021. In April alone, nearly 8 GW of solar modules worth more than €2 billion were imported from China into Europe.

Scientists in Bangladesh have investigated the potential of agrivoltaics in rice fields. They analyzed the economic viability of bifacial agrivoltaic projects in Vietnam, Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Brazil, and India.

Japanese scientists have built a chalcopyrite PV device for tandem solar cells and water splitting for hydrogen generation. The device has a power conversion efficiency of 11.05%, an open-circuit voltage of 0.960 V, a short-circuit current density of 15.9 mA cm−2, and a fill factor of 72.4%.

Manufacturers have until Aug. 16 to submit bids to supply 3 million multicrystalline silicon solar cells featuring five busbars, with peak power ratings of 4.68 W and 4.63 W.

Swiss panel manufacturer Meyer Burger wanted to increase the annual capacity of its production lines this year, but the ramp-up has been delayed due to ongoing bottlenecks in global supply chains.

A US-Chinese research group has built a perovskite solar cell with a hole-transporting material (HTM) based on conducting polyaniline (PANI) polymer. The device showed significantly higher efficiency than a reference solar cell relying on an HTM made of commonly used PEDOT:PSS.

The US module level power electronics provider also introduced an installer certification course.

Tongwei was followed by Aiko Solar, Runergy, Solar Space and Jietai Technology. The top five cell manufacturers supplied a total of 59 GW.

Scientists in China evaluated the prospects for various approaches to integrating both solar generation and energy storage in a single device. Their work outlines several ways this could increase the efficiency of solar energy storage, and recommends that future research on this area should focus on integration of materials with the highest specific capacity for energy storage, alongside the dual function of solar energy harvesting.

The new panel from the German manufacturer may also be used as a solar tile and is claimed to be particularly suitable for historical buildings and aesthetically demanding new construction and renovation projects.