Modules & Upstream Manufacturing

Scientists at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne have developed a new ‘chemical innovation’, for the deposition of perovskite solar cells onto a substrate. The method is shown to produce cells at better than 23% efficiency, that remained stable after 500 hours testing at a raised temperature.

Researchers in Israel have suggested the use of regasification of liquefied natural gas to reduce the operating temperature of PV modules in solar parks located at gas terminals. According to them, the feasibility of such a cooling solution could be strengthened by the fact that both the PV systems and the LNG regasification systems are, separately, mature, economical technologies.

As the bloc pushes its digital and green transition agenda, policymakers have looked at the raw materials required. Little is mined, processed or assembled in Europe at present but the European Commission has a plan…

The PV module manufacturer has started mass production of its Vertex 550 W ultra-high-power modules at its factory in China’s Jiangsu province. It expects to start manufacturing 600 W panels in the first quarter of next year.

Rising volumes of solar capacity are to be welcomed but, as panelists at a session of today’s SolarPower Europe event discussed, the technology must be kept ethical and responsible. That means industry working together; new, harmonized, mandatory and voluntary policy instruments; and a focus on quantifiable, life cycle-based investor criteria.

Doubling down on renewable energy investment and energy transition spending is required to ensure a truly green global recovery from the Covid-19 crisis and its economic aftershock, claims the International Renewable Energy Agency.

A new building at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) is being covered with facade CGIS solar panels provided by German manufacturer Avancis. A research team will analyze their performance and special features, including new sensors for incident radiation and heat.

Longi wants to expand the production capacity to 12 GW for its new highly efficient modules by the end of the year.

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur have developed 12×12 cm2 sub-modules from organic solar PV cells on a paper substrate that could be used to power flexible electronic devices under an indoor lighting environment. The modules are said to deliver a power density of up to 12 µW/cm2 under illumination from a 1000-lux cool‐white LED.

And module manufacturer Trina Solar announced on Monday afternoon that the company has signed an agreement with the government of Yancheng City, Jiangsu Province, for the construction of a 10 GW solar module factory.