Research project to target thermal losses in large-scale solar farms
Australian modular solar manufacturer 5B will work with researchers from the University of Sydney to optimize the design of large-scale solar farms, in a bid to minimize temperature-induced panel efficiency losses. The research project secured funding support in the latest round of the Australian Research Council’s Linkage Project Grants program.
Aerial image dataset automatically maps rooftop solar arrays
French scientists have developed a dataset to enable the creation of installation registries, by extracting small-scale PV metadata from overhead imagery. It can be used to provide training data for remote PV mapping algorithms and test the robustness of machine-learning models.
Air conditioning based on air-cooled photovoltaic-thermal system
Chinese scientists have developed a photovoltaic-thermal air conditioning system that uses an air-cooled condenser and a PV/T condenser combined in series. The system reportedly offers better cooling performance under night conditions.
PV-powered seawater desalination for afforestation carbon capture
Finnish researchers have proposed the use of solar, wind, and storage to provide desalinated seawater to restore forests. Their model predicts that an additional 10.7 TW of PV would be needed to actually do this by 2100, leading to a cumulative carbon dioxide sequestration potential of 730 gigatons.
New EV battery offers 50% more density than traditional lithium-ion batteries
Ionblox says it will use $32 million of series B funding to support the buildout of a novel silicon anode electric vehicle battery.
New study shows lower environmental impact with single-axis trackers
Brazilian researchers have compared the environmental impact of two PV plants – one with polycrystalline solar modules mounted on fixed-tilt trackers, and another with the same modules mounted on single-axis trackers. The life cycle assessment shows the system with single-axis trackers reduced carbon gas emissions by 24%, land use by 20%, and water use by 7%.
Survey shows 34.3% failure rate for residential inverters over 15 years
The Bern University of Applied Sciences in Switzerland has published the initial results of a survey on the durability and performance of residential PV inverters and power optimizers over a 15-year period. They found that more than 65% of the inverters did not present yield-relevant faults by their 15th year of operation.
Solar microgrid to support critical water infrastructure
A US water station will enhance its ability to deliver safe, clean water during extended grid outages.
Australian scientists hit 30.3% efficiency with tandem perovskite-silicon PV cell
A research team at Australian National University (ANU) has claimed an efficiency of 30.3% for a tandem solar cell made by mechanically stacking a perovskite cell and silicon cell.
The Hydrogen Stream: Bismuth-based catalyst for efficient OER in electrolysis
South Korean researchers have reported higher performance with a newly proposed BM/BiFeOxHy electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction (OER), due to higher lattice vacancies and the amorphous structure. Institutions in the EU, the UK, and Canada, meanwhile, have announced new plans to provide funds for hydrogen projects.
