Technology

The Consortium for Battery Innovation has outlined research goals for advanced lead-based battery concepts, claiming the potential of the technology is “nowhere near fully exploited”. The group, comprised of lead-battery industry stakeholders, says such devices can play an important role alongside lithium-ion and other storage technologies in electric vehicles, renewable energy storage and other applications.

A group of scientists at Netherlands based research institute AMOLF have discovered a method for electrochemical printing at the nanoscale. With further optimizations, the group theorizes, the technique could allow for the development of new, three dimensional solar cells.

A massive green hydrogen production project has been unveiled in Western Australia with Siemens on board as technology partner. The location has been touted as Australia’s best for solar and wind power generation potential.

Scientists at the University of Texas at Dallas have made a discovery they say has “altered the understanding of the fundamental properties of perovskite crystals”. Their findings could improve understanding of defect formation in perovskites, leading to devices with enhanced performance and stability.

Researchers from Canada have unveiled a new germanium deposition process which is said to eliminate threading dislocations and be significantly cheaper than previous approaches. The scientists say their technique creates nanovoids on the surface of the germanium layer which can attract and annihilate undesirable dislocations.

A new study shows solar may help reduce water pumping costs in a desert oasis of Mauritania significantly while reducing water losses. Researchers claim PV water pumping may also help prevent desertification.

An Italian research team has developed a device that it says can easily be integrated into a PV cell, and can boost its efficiency by converting more light particles into a high energy state before they are absorbed by the cell. The scientists claim that their innovation could offer a green‐to‐blue photon upconversion yield as high as 15%.

Originally intended to commission 140 MW of storage, the tender drew three winning projects: a 50 MW system and two 30 MW facilities. Eirgrid has estimated the total value of the contracts at around €6 million per year.

A recent project milestone saw the disconnection of properties from overhead lines and will enable 64km of poles and wires to be replaced by off-grid solar-plus-battery solutions.

An €18 million loan has been provided by the African Development Bank. The solar park, planned for capital N’Djamena, will be coupled to 4 MWh of storage.