Netherlands launches 2018 support scheme for innovative solar, renewables
The Topsector Energie scheme, which will also support all kinds of innovative energy projects, has a budget of €130 million for 2018.
Blockchain company raises $40 million to further develop energy trading platform
WePower is raising money in hopes of leveraging Bitcoin’s ‘blockchain’ technology to enable instant tracking and trading of clean electricity.
US researchers get the lead out of perovskites
Scientists led by Brown University have developed perovskite solar cells, which replace the toxic lead common to many of these material structures with titanium. The researchers say that with further optimization, the material could eventually be ideal for use as a tandem cell layer.
Aurora Solar Tech infrared tool upgraded for HJT cell measurement
The Canadian firm’s Decima Gemini infrared measurement technology has been updated to measure performance and characteristics of transparent conductive oxide layers key in heterojunction cell technology.
Trina Solar hits new efficiency record for IBC cell
Trina Solar has set a new record of 25.04% total area efficiency for an n-type interdigitated back contact (IBC) solar cell. The record has been independently verified by Japan Electric Safety and Environmental Technology Laboratory.
US researchers develop new redox flow compound
A team of scientists from the U.S. University of Rochester has developed a compound, which it says could double the effectiveness of redox flow batteries, and “transform the energy storage landscape”.
Aging tests for perovskite, dye-sensitized solar cells must improve, research says
Finnish scientists have found that only one third of tests reported the intensities of visible and UV light, humidity and temperature adequately.
The unexpected benefits of replacing tobacco plantations with solar farms
Although tobacco consumption is the key cause of avoidable deaths worldwide, its cultivation remains the main source of income for many farmers. Now, two researchers from the Michigan Technological University claim that converting tobacco fields to solar farms could be beneficial for two purposes: reducing deaths and helping solar energy fight climate change.
Germany’s ISFH announces 26.1% efficiency for p-type crystalline cells
The Institute for Solar Energy Research Hamelin (ISFH) and the Leibniz Universität Hannover claim that this result is a world record for p-type silicon material, as well as a European record for crystalline silicon.
Russian scientists investigate quantum dot solids for PV applications
Researchers at the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute (MEPhI) have developed next-generation solids consisting of quantum dots (QD), or semiconductor crystals with a diameter of just few nanometers, that could deliver a big step towards cheaper and more efficient photovoltaic devices.
