Technology

German renewables developer BayWa r.e. has finished building four new pilot agrivoltaic projects in the Netherlands, Austria, and Germany. They combine solar with fruit cultivation.

Robert Piconi, CEO of gravity storage specialist Energy Vault, makes the case for the US company’s long-duration energy storage solutions as an alternative to lithium-ion batteries, and discusses the ideal project size from an economic perspective.

The European Patent Office (EPO) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) have released a new report on hydrogen tech patents. They noted the rise in electrolysis innovation and said automakers and chemicals suppliers are leading the way with hydrogen patents.

Scientists in Sweden have proposed the use of gold polyiodide compounds in monolithic perovskite solar cells. They built a lead-free device that achieved an efficiency of 0.052%.

Berlin-based Boreal Light has developed water desalination tech powered by PV for off-grid applications. The solution uses 460 W solar panels from Chinese module manufacturer DAH Solar and produces clean water from direct seawater at a cost of €0.50 ($0.54)/m3.

Solax has introduced new products with nominal power ratings of 0.6 kW to 3 kW and efficiencies of 98%. It says the devices are compatible with heat pump systems and home EV chargers.

South African scientists have designed a novel gravity energy storage system that uses linear electric motors to vertically move multiple solid masses to store and discharge electrical energy. They say its levelized cost of storage (LCOS) is $137.20/MWh, but with efficiency improvements, it could drop to about $100/MWh

Norway’s Over Easy Solar AS introduced a new vertical PV system for rooftop applications last year. pv magazine spoke to CEO Trygve Mongstad about system prices and future market prospects for vertical rooftop solar tech.

Researchers in Saudi Arabia have built a perovskite-silicon tandem cell with textured silicon wafers to offer superior light trapping. The device has an open-circuit voltage of 1,851 mV, a short-circuit current of 18.9 mA/cm2, and a fill factor of 80.1%.

Chemical manufacturer Avient has announced the launch of new, cross-linkable polymers for use in photovoltaic cables.