Technology

The Chinese module manufacturer led an international research team seeking silicon material savings and efficiency gains in the development of heterojunction PV devices. The cell achieved a certified power conversion efficiency of 26.06% with a thickness of 57 μm, with Germany’s Institute for Solar Energy Research confirming the result.

The novel methodology is reportedly able to track global maximum power point and reduce power losses in partially shaded PV systems by up to 33%. It uses a backstepping controller (BSC) algorithm to adjust the pulse width modulation signal and a genetic algorithm to compute the BSC gains to achieve an optimal PV system outcome.

Developed by the University of Toledo, the cell achived the highest efficiency ever reported for flexible cadmium telluride solar cells to date. The device reached an open-circuit voltage of 861 mV, a short-circuit density of 27.8 mA/cm2, and a fill factor of 71.7%.

Researchers in Sweden have developed a new PVT module using an aluminum alloy structure between the thermal absorber and the photovoltac cells. This architecture reportedly reduces thermal expansion by 20%, thus increasing the chances of mitigating cracks in the PV unit.

The researchers that created the atlas considered mining pits, pit lakes and tailings ponds within mining sites and located nearby reservoirs. The selected sites have a potential storage capacity of 30 TWh.

Energy Vault has begun construction on a 293 MWh green hydrogen and battery storage facility within utility Pacific Gas & Electric’s service territory in northern California.

The German research institute is investigating the use of commercially available vacuum-based evaporation equipment to manufacture perovskite thin films and contacts layers in the fabrication of perovskite-silicon tandem cells.

TrinaTracker, a division of China’s Trina Solar, says its new Vanguard 1P tracker system has a maximum length of 140 meters and can be equipped with N-type modules.

Developed by researchers at the Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER), the novel cell was conceived for applications in bifacial perovskite-silicon tandem PV devices. The academics claim they were able to overcome an intrinsic dopant-induced internal degradation mechanism which leads to undesired lithium-ion diffusion that would have been detrimental to the cell efficiency.

Prosolarbirds has designed a harmless device to prevent birds from perching on the panels and soiling them with excrement. It is a rotating device, without a motor, that is activated by a slight breeze, and whose movement prevents birds from landing.