Technology

A U.S. research group has developed a metal-carbon-nanotube composite – MetZilla – which can be embedded in commercial, screen-printable silver pastes and is said to reduce the formation of hotspots in solar modules and to prolong panel lifespan. The composite metal contacts are also ‘self-healing’ as they are able to regain electrical continuity after cycles of complete electrical failure caused by extreme strain.

The California-based Hanergy subsidiary has broken its efficiency record for a large area, flexible CIGS module, achieving 18.64% on a device with a 1.08m² aperture. The record has been confirmed by Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems.

With hundreds of homes and businesses having received solar-plus-storage systems and monitoring equipment, an algorithm is managing a market for flexibility and capacity in Cornwall. Homeowners with storage can place bids to sell energy from their systems to the distribution system owner on an intraday basis.

Scientists at Rice University in the United States have found by strategically adding indium to an all-inorganic, lead-based perovskite, they can reduce the number of defects in the material and improve its efficiency, as well as providing a significant boost to stability.

Spanish researchers have discovered a material said to offer radiative cooling and self-cleaning of devices which undergo critical heating during operation, such as PV panels. The thermal emitter enabled the scientists to lower the daytime temperature of silicon wafers by 14 degrees Celsius.

The company says its network is the largest fleet of batteries under virtual power plant management worldwide.

Amid high hopes for the European Commission presidency that is about to start, attendees at a recent event in Berlin tempered optimism by renewing calls for an industrial policy for the bloc.

A new application for ABB’s ‘Ability’ digital platform enables industrial customers to avoid peak charges without using of battery storage. The Swiss corporation has developed two apps for its energy management software with the help of an artificial intelligence specialist.

Market intelligence company Navigant Research has developed a country forecast of the global market. Incentives and pricing will be the main driver of installations, though the market will continue to be concentrated in certain key regions for now.

Scientists at the United States’ Argonne National Laboratory worked with a class of electrolyte materials they say could greatly improve the performance of lithium-sulfur batteries. The group has devised a selection rule which it says will help researchers select the most suitable electrolyte materials for different battery systems.