Organic solar cells for space demonstrate radiation resistance, self-healing
Conventional silicon solar cells degrade rapidly in space, and gallium arsenide cells are heavy and inflexible. Research from the University of Michigan suggests carbon-based solar cells could be a good fit for space applications.
Firefighter injured in solar-plus-storage explosion and fire in Spain
The fire, which affected a photovoltaic installation in a container with batteries at the port of Gandia, started at 6:14 p.m. on January 4.
Japan keeps lead in solid-state battery development
While China, South Korea, Europe, and the United States are also engaged in active development of all solid-state batteries, Japan is leading the charge, offering generous subsidies to technology proponents.
Field testing shows perovskite solar modules can retain 78% of their initial efficiency after one year
Researchers from Belgium and the University of Cyprus have completed outdoor stability tests of perovskite solar mini-modules providing two-years of data on stability performance. The tests showed that the modules’ performance loss rates during the burn-in period of perovskites ranged between 7% and 8% per month.
Solar discovery could transform hydrogen production
An international study led by Flinders University in Australia has advanced nanoscale chemistry to further develop sustainable and efficient generation of hydrogen from water using solar power.
Chinese scientists design hybrid heat pump providing ultra-high temperature heating at 180 C
The proposed system uses waste heat by thermally coupling a water lithium bromide absorption heat transformer with a water vapor compression heat
pump. It reportedly achieved a temperature elevation of up to 110 C and ultra-high temperature heating of up to 180 C.
Perovskite solar beach umbrella and electric cooler
Anker has introduced an off-grid solar perovskite umbrella and a cooler with battery energy storage at CES 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Ensemble deep learning for PV cell defect detection
Researchers have tested eight stand-alone deep learning methods for PV cell fault detection and have found that their accuracy was as high as 73%. All methods were trained and tested on the ELPV benchmark dataset, which includes 2,624 electroluminescence (EL) images of PV cells.
SolarEdge launches AI-based energy management system
The controller integrates selected third-party products into the SolarEdge EMS ecosystem by connecting to a household’s internet router via the local area network (LAN). It can communicate with inverters, electric vehicle chargers, heat pumps and SolarEdge’s servers.
Perovskite-CIGS tandem solar cells powering electrodynamic tethers used in satellites
European researchers are developing miniaturized space propulsion technology that is propellant-free and based on electrodynamic tethers integrating perovskite-copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) tandem solar cells. It is meant to maneuver satellites in space or in de-orbiting without relying on heavy propellants on board.
