Technology

Researchers in China developed a new kesterite solar cell they say has improved efficiency and stability. The device was able to retain around 90% of its initial efficiency after 100 days without encapsulation.

In other news, Our Next Energy reveals 240-Ah anode-free cell with high energy density, ABB E-mobility expands its manufacturing footprint in the US, and Volvo’s parent company Geely unveils 600 kW supercharging technology.

The result, confirmed by Germany’s Institute for Solar Energy Research Hamelin (ISFH), was achieved on a heterojunction solar cell based on an M6 wafer.

The all-black series includes a monofacial PERC module with an efficiency of up to 20.86% and an n-type heterojunction product with an efficiency of 21.68%. Both products feature all-black integrated design, with black backsheet, black busbar, black frame and black encapsulant material.

Korean scientists have built a wafer scale radial junction solar cell with tapered microwires and a surface passivation layer made of aluminum oxide. The device showed the highest power conversion efficiency among the previously reported microwire solar cells.

United States-based engineering firm FTC Solar has unveiled a new self-powered solar tracking system which it says requires up to 36% fewer foundations than existing technologies and enables an estimated 5% greater energy output for a given parcel of land.

As Siemens commissions Germany’s second largest electrolyzer at the Energy Park in Wunsiedel, Engie has taken the Final Investment Decision for a project in Western Australia, scheduled for completion in 2024. Meanwhile, two reports shed light on the future of green hydrogen: on the demand side, the MENA region could use it to become the global leader of green steel; on the supply side, BNEF welcomes the support commitments coming from Europe and the United States.

The company said it plans to quadruple its battery manufacturing capacity by the end of 2023. The 2.8 MWh lithium-ferro phosphate battery will be unveiled at the RE+ conference in California.

Energy Vault’s EVx storage system is comparable to pumped hydro, using grid-scale renewable energy when supply is abundant to drive motors and raise 30-ton blocks on a six-arm crane tower, rather than water, up to a height. When power needs to be discharged back to the grid, the blocks are lowered, harvesting the kinetic energy.

A Dutch research group has developed a passivation technique for heterojunction solar cells based on a hydrogenated amorphous silicon layer. Their cell achieved an in-house-certified power conversion efficiency of 24.18%, an open-circuit voltage of 726.0 mV, a short-circuit current of 39.97 mA/cm2, and a fill factor of 83.3%.