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Technology

Quebec publishes draft documents for 1.3 GW tender

The Canadian provincial government’s Green Economy Plan, launched in November 2020, envisages a 37.5% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions en route to net zero by mid century.

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MIT, NREL researchers develop 40%-efficient thermophotovoltaic cell for grid-scale thermal batteries

The device is described as a heat engine with no moving parts that is able to produce power from a heat source of between 1,900 to 2,400 C. This concept is known as thermal energy grid storage (TEGS) and consists of a low-cost, grid-scale storage technology that uses thermophotovoltaic cells to convert heat to electricity above 2,000 C.

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Trimaran-shaped floating PV system design from Spain

The proposed system architecture is claimed to offer more stability compared to conventional floating structures and reduces by up to 93% the contact area of the system with the water. The first system prototype was recently developed on a water reservoir in Alava, in the northeastern territory of the Basque Country.

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Bromine-based flow batteries for renewables storage

Bromine-based flow batteries have the potential for high energy density in renewable energy storage. Their commercial adoption, however, remains challenging due to the cathode materials used for their construction. New research from China seeks to shed light on how to overcome these hurdles.

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Battery fire at Salt River Project in the US

Fire crews in Chandler, Arizona, sent robots into a building at the Salt River Project where a 10 MW battery was smoldering.

Four-terminal tandem perovskite solar cell design with 30.14% efficiency

The lead-free solar cell was modeled via a three-dimensional finite element method by an Iranian research group. The cell was designed without the buffer layer and with the addition of anti-reflection layer (ARL) strategies, as well as the use of periodic nano-texture patterns.

JinkoSolar achieves 25.7% efficiency for n-type TOPCon solar cell

Manufacturing giant JinkoSolar has set another world record for n-type solar cell efficiencies with its TOPCon technology, this time pushing to 25.7%. The new world record was confirmed by China’s National Institute of Metrology.

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Sun Cable reveals full extent of its giant solar-plus-storage project in Australia

Singapore-based Sun Cable has submitted its Environmental Impact Statement to the Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority. The document reveals the full extent of the project’s enormity, specifically a 17-20 GW solar farm tied to 36-42 GWh of battery energy storage, which is set to be transmitted by subsea cables to Singapore.

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The Hydrogen Stream: Fuel cell that uses iron instead of expensive platinum

In other news, Hydrofuel Canada developed hollow hybrid plasmonic nanocages to create an electrocatalyst for ammonia synthesis from nitrogen (N2) and water (H2O) and said green hydrogen could be separated from this ammonia and sold at about $1.50 per kilogram. Furthermore, Norway’s Aker Horizons and Statkraft are exploring green hydrogen and ammonia production opportunities in India and Brazil, targeting local steel and fertilizer industries.

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Ionic liquid-based perovskite solar cell with 22.86% efficiency

A Swiss-Japanese research group has used ionic liquids doping to improve the efficiency and stability of perovskite solar cells. Their champion device showed an open-circuit voltage of 1.16 V, a short-circuit current of 24.03 (mA cm−2), and a fill factor of 0.818. It was also able to retain around 95% of its initial efficiency after 1,000 hours of operation.

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