Daily news round-up: UK reveals details of next renewables auction, Iran’s first floating PV and more hydrogen
Taiwanese cell manufacturer Inventec Solar reportedly halted production this month and Ireland is preparing to remove rooftop solar panel restrictions, according to the Irish Independent.
Manufacturing process for mono cast solar cell exceeding 23% efficiency
Trina Solar has made a PV cell by directly applying the unmodified i-TOPCon process, originally developed for Cz mono wafers, to cast n-type quasi-mono silicon wafers. It claims the average efficiency, tested in-house with a calibrated reference cell, is 22.98%.
German-led consortium aims for 33% efficient perovskite-silicon solar cell
The Institute for Solar Energy Research Hamelin (ISFH), the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the Institute for Materials and Components in Electronics at the University of Hannover, as well as Centrotherm, Singulus, Meyer Burger and Von Ardenne are involved in a research project aimed at achieving a 27% conversion efficiency for silicon solar cells based on perovskite.
Degradation and regeneration in polysilicon passivation layers
Scientists in Australia took a close look at the long-term performance of passivation layers in silicon solar cells, and discovered a surprising process of degradation and regeneration at work within the material. The results could have implications on the processes used in industrial scale solar cell production.
Screen-printed heterojunction solar cell with 20.48% efficiency
Researchers from the United States have used new passivated contact architectures to demonstrate a screen-printed silicon heterojunction solar cell on 40 micron thick standalone wafers.
Indian manufacturers request duties on PV imports
India imported $1.3 billion worth of solar cells and modules from China in fiscal 2019-20, but domestic manufacturers are now demanding a level playing field to compete against cheaper imports.
Chinese PV Industry Brief: Coal producer enters PV business, Jinko builds frame factory
State-run coal producer China Pingmei Shenma has revealed plans to enter the PV module business with a 5 GW production unit in Henan province. JinkoSolar, meanwhile, has started building a new factory for aluminum PV panel frames.
The steeplechase of transparent PV
A South Korean research team has claimed that transparent PV technologies need to improve in terms of efficiency, stability and aesthetics before they can reach commercial maturity.
Erdogan opens ingot-to-module solar factory in Ankara
The $1.4 billion cost includes a 1 GW solar field 260km away in Konya. The factory was developed solely by Kalyon Solar Technologies after development partner Hanwha Q-Cells walked away from the project.
Japan’s struggle to drive down renewables costs
A nation famous for high electricity prices has seen power costs fall 15% this year, according to analyst Wood Mackenzie, a figure which will help attract $100 billion of solar and wind investment to 2030. Renewables will have to work even harder, however, to displace fossil fuels in hydrogen production.
