Technology

North Carolina-based Honeywell will supply a 1 MW/1.5 MWh lithium-ion battery storage system at the Zaporizhzhya Power Plant belonging to utility Dtek.

An international research team has measured the reduction of air pollution due to the Covid-19 shutdown and its impact on solar radiation levels. They found that solar radiation in Delhi, one of the world’s most polluted cities, was around 8.3% higher in late March, when the Indian government implemented lockdown measures.

Scientists in Australia and the United States have managed to ‘upconvert’ light from below the silicon bandgap into high-energy light that can be captured by silicon solar cells.

Researchers in France have tried to predict the competitiveness of tandem PV modules against commercial crystalline products in 2030. Crystalline products will be 22-24% efficient in a decade, according to the researchers, possibly 25% if interdigitated back-contact heterojunction versions become mainstream. To compete, tandem devices will need to offer similar life spans and degradation rates, plus efficiencies of 30%.

Parliament has adopted Draft Law 3658 which can now be signed into law by the president. Payment reductions for solar have been further eased and curtailment will now be compensated but talk of extending the duration of the newly-reset FIT levels appears to have fallen by the wayside.

Ukrainian renewable energy lawyer Svitlana Teush takes a look at the law which will define the cuts to be applied in Ukraine after extensive negotiation between government and the clean energy industry.

The government’s Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy has drafted secondary legislation aimed at easing the construction of large scale energy storage projects for renewables. Around 100 such batteries could be deployed thanks to the proposed rules, according to the department.

Scientists in the U.S. claim to have demonstrated an inexpensive, long-life, safe and eco-friendly redox flow battery. The device is said offer coulombic efficiency of 97.9% thanks to functional electrolyte additives, pH and elevated temperature.

British Li-S cell manufacturer Oxis Energy today revealed it is working with U.S. planemaker Texas Aircraft Manufacturing on a pilot training and private transport aircraft. The trainer appears likely to be at least three years away from development, given the commissioning timeline previously announced for Oxis’ Brazilian cell factory.

The manufacturer says its new device is the highest-powered string inverter available. The Solis-255K-EHV, three-phase product has a reported efficiency of 99% – and a European efficiency of 98.8%.