White House takes executive action to spur US solar manufacturing
Concurrent with the two-year halt of solar tariffs on major Southeast Asian panels suppliers, the Biden Administration invoked the Defense Production Act and is using the full power of federal procurement capabilities to boost US-made solar.
REC: “Our future is in HJT”
While many solar manufacturers are as yet undecided about which PV cell technology they will choose for their next high efficiency expansions, for Singapore-based REC, the future is HJT. pv magazine spoke to Cemil Seber, the managing director at REC Solar EMEA GmbH at the Intersolar Europe 2022 trade show, to dig deeper into these manufacturing plans.
‘Solar skin’ set to power Melbourne office tower
With architects and construction companies across the world showing an increasing interest in building-integrated PV, one Australian company has outlined plans to clad an eight-storey building being constructed in West Melbourne with a “solar skin” that will generate almost all of the building’s base power.
US government set to pause new solar tariffs for two years
The White House is expected to announce a 24-month tariff exemption on solar modules manufactured in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, while also invoking the Defense Production Act as a means to accelerate American manufacturing.
Chinese PV Industry Brief: LDK to invest in 600 MW HJT solar cell factory as price of polysilicon soars
A Chinese metals industry group said the price of polysilicon is rising, just as Comtec Solar revealed that it is gearing up to sell off its shuttered wafer factories in Shanghai. Flat Glass, meanwhile, has announced plans to expand solar glass production capacity.
Tunable solar cells with customized design capabilities
German scientists have reviewed all solar cell technologies with tuning capabilities and have identified all of their possible applications.
Solar beehive in South Korea
Hanwha Group has marked World Bee Day by unveiling the country’s first solar beehive. The PV modules on the beehive generate electricity to automatically monitor and control internal conditions.
Ultra-thin inverted perovskite solar cell with 20.2% efficiency
Chinese scientists have developed an ultralight solar cell with perovskite film based on a 3-µm-thick polymer. It purportedly has a power conversion efficiency in line with that of perovskite cells of conventional thickness.
Semitransparent dye-sensitized solar module for BIPV applications
Scientists in Italy have developed a module with an area of 0.2 sm and an efficiency of 2.7% in outdoor conditions, with a tilt angle of 60 C. They designed it by considering the trade-off between low losses and device sturdiness.
PVT-biomass system for space heating in small homes
A US-Chinese research group has developed a hybrid system proposal based on photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) modules, a heat pump, a backup electric boiler, and biomass generating units. They say it could be used as space heating in a single-floor home.
