Manufacturing

According to a British-Swedish research team, the down‐shifting process for solar glass manufacturing can be improved through the use of two dopant cations that produce no absorption bands. The doping with these compounds is said to reduce the UV transmission while also keeping the glass free from absorption in the visible and near-infrared ranges.

Endesa, the Spanish unit of Italian power group Enel, is using a new technology in the construction of three solar parks in southern Spain.

India’s Solar Power Developers Association said that the one-year safeguard duty extension has already driven up capital costs. Any additional tariff barriers would jeopardize the Indian government’s “100 GW by 2022” target, it claimed.

The solar cell calibration laboratory ISFH CalTeC has certified the efficiency of the cell, which was made with a standard M2 wafer.

SunPower and Maxeon Solar Technologies finalized their plan to split into two independent entities, while Austrian solar developer Energy BG 1 revealed plans to build a huge unsubsidized solar project in Bulgaria.

Chinese monocrystalline PV module manufacturer Longi has yet to join the race to produce solar panels with power outputs above 600 W. The decision is line with a clear strategy, a company spokesperson told pv magazine. Outstanding issues for these moduels, according to the manufacturer, include low cell manufacturing yield, system compatibility, concerns about module transport, and hotspot-related failure risks, as well as the need for mechanical loading tests.

Using an innovative high-speed video setup, scientists in Germany were able to observe the screen-printing process used in solar cell metallization, on a time scale of less than 50 milliseconds. Insights into the paste’s behavior and the mechanisms at work during screen printing will improve the process and the formulation of the silver paste it relies on.

The California-based energy technology company has announced that its microinverters have been selected for Solargain’s turnkey solar offerings in Australia, including the retailer’s offer in collaboration with the Swedish furniture giant.

Centrotec, a German energy efficiency specialist, has acquired Switzerland’s Pari Group, which holds an 80% stake in German PV module manufacturer Sonnenstromfabrik.

A newly proposed inverter design relies on a solar charge controller featuring maximum power point tracking. It is based on an artificial fish-swarm algorithm, which offers high convergence speeds, flexibility, fault tolerance, and accuracy.