Greening US solar with end-of-life plan
The US Department of Energy’s five-year plan aims to reduce the environmental impacts of solar panels at the end of life, plus cut in half the cost of recycling the panels.
Hanwha Q-Cells says injunction against Longi was extended
According to the Korea-based photovoltaic manufacturer, the court of appeal in The Hague has extended the cross-border injunction against Longi. It now applies in eleven countries in which Longi is not allowed to sell the solar modules affected by the patent litigation, Hanwha Q-Cells states.
Chinese PV Industry Brief: Jolywood, Jinko expand polysilicon capacity
In other news, Canadian Solar revealed it shipped 14.5 GW of solar modules in 2021 and China Power said it installed 1.22 GW more solar generation capacity last year.
Demonstrator machine for high-throughput solar cell metallization
Developed by Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE and ASYS Automatisierungssysteme GmbH, the new machine is claimed to increase the print process throughput by a factor of 1.5.
The Solar Tech Check: Toward 50-year modules, and how the numbers add up for HJT
This week sees new technoeconomic analysis published on different aspects/materials for heterojunction: Important to consider as Europe in particular looks to be betting big on this technology for its manufacturing comeback. And a new report from NREL in the United States examines progress in degradation and durability to increase module lifetimes.
Snow, ice-repellent coating for solar panels
Researchers in Sweden are currently testing three kinds of coatings — hydrophobic, superhydrophobic and slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces. The goal of the new technology is to halve ice adhesion compared to standard modular glass and ensure 96% light transmittance.
POLO-IBC solar cell with 23.7% efficiency
Scientists in Germany have developed two kinds of solar cells based on n-type doped electron-collecting poly-Si on oxide (POLO) junctions with aluminum-alloyed p+ contacts. Both devices are claimed to be possible upgrades of PERC technologies. The best-performant cell is an IBC device showing a power conversion efficiency of 23.71%, an open-circuit voltage of 711.5mV, a short-circuit current of 41.3mA/cm2, and a fill factor of 80.9%.
New solar tiles from Denmark
Danish BIPV specialist Dansk Solenergi has added two more tiles to its product range – an 18.15%-efficient dark grey panel and a 16.7%-efficient terracotta product. Both panels have an operating temperature coefficient of -0.34% per degree Celsius.
World’s largest solar tree record smashed
With a PV panel surface area of 309.83 sq.m, the solar tree is officially certified by Guinness World Records (GWR) as the largest solar tree in the world.
Double-junction perovskite-tin sulfide PV cell design with up to 28.92% efficiency
An Iranian-Italian research group has simulated a double-junction tandem solar cell based on perovskite and tin sulfide. They said that it can reach an efficiency rating of between 22.9% and 28.92%.
