Manz exits solar business
The German PV equipment manufacturer said it will discontinue all activities in the CIGS thin-film area after writing off €23.2 million due to a failed fab project in China.
Chinese PV Industry Brief: Polysilicon price remains flat
In other news, JinkoSolar is seeking to raise CNY 10 billion ($1.48 billion) to finance its capacity expansion plans and Trina Solar predicts strong profit growth for the first half of the year.
Forecast methodology for photovoltaic power yield during solar eclipses
In October there will be a partial solar eclipse in Central Europe. The Fraunhofer IEE has developed a solution that reportedly enables the most accurate forecast possible of the photovoltaic feed-in power during the extreme event.
Reverse bias – a hidden challenge for perovskite solar cell stability
New research from renowned PV scientist Martin Green and colleagues at UNSW reveals that perovskite solar cells may struggle to deal with reverse-bias caused by uneven shading or other issues likely to appear in the field. Both the reverse-bias itself and resulting build up of heat can cause several of the materials commonly used in perovskite solar cells to degrade, and these issues have received only limited attention in research published to date. Solutions, however, are at hand.
Solar tree-based photovoltaic plants for mountainous areas
Scientists in land-scarce Korea are proposing to use solar trees to build PV installations in forest areas. Although more expensive than conventional ground-mounted facilities, solar plants made of solar trees may capture carbon from forest land and produce energy at the same time.
Solarwatt obtains ‘cradle-to-cradle’ certification for its glass-glass solar modules
The ‘cradle-to-cradle’ certification is considered a globally recognized holistic product quality standard. The assessment is made for five categories: material health, recyclability of materials, energy management and CO2 emissions, water management and social responsibility
The PV industry needs 12 times more polysilicon production capacity by 2050
New research from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) predicts cumulative polysilicon demand of 46-87 Mt will be required to achieve 63.4 TW of PV installed by 2050.
Large-area organic solar cell with 14.7% efficiency
Scientists in Korea built an organic solar cell that is reportedly able to prevent aggregation in photoactive layers. The device could be used for applications in buildings, vehicles, and the Internet of Things.
Intersect Power places order for 2.4 GW of First Solar modules
A long-time customer of First Solar, Intersect Power is expected to be one of the largest buyers and operators of First Solar technology by 2027.
Graphene/silicon heterojunction solar cell with 18.8% efficiency
A Chinese-German research group developed the cell with an ink of graphene oxide (GO) mixed with Nafion that can be spin-coated on an n-type silicon wafer to form a high-quality passivating contact scheme. The GO:Nafion layer simultaneously creates a p–n junction with silicon and passivates the surface defects at the GO:silicon interface.
