Technology and R&D

Indian company Amtronics CC has paid Quantum Materials Corp an initial $500,000 as part of an agreement securing the right to manufacture quantum dots and thin-film quantum dot solar cells based on QMC technology for commercial supply in India. Construction has already started on a manufacturing facility in the state of Assam.

The Swiss solar equipment maker has endorsed a claim by Chinese solar manufacturer Longi that the technology it uses differs from that at the center of Hanwha Q Cells’ patent infringement complaints.

German engineering association the VDMA expects PV system prices to continue to fall, as set out in the latest International Technology Roadmap for Photovoltaics report. Falling production costs and rising cell and module performance levels will secure long term competitiveness for PV in the energy mix, says the report. VDMA estimates global production capacity for PV modules reached 150 GW last year.

A Chinese research team has tested large-area perovskite solar cells by sending them into near-earth orbit at 35 km, and has discovered the near lack of oxygen and moisture is good for their stability.

Open-source blockchain platform Energy Web Foundation has revealed the number of its affiliates has risen from 37 to 100 in recent months. New members include EnBW, Total and a unit of the State Grid Corporation of China. The platform was conceived to create an energy-blockchain ecosystem and to accelerate the energy transition.

Our next pv magazine webinar is approaching and has already attracted interest. Is it possible to control LID and LeTID and, if so, how? Here, Andrea Viaro from webinar partner Jinko Solar gives an insight into the manufacturer’s experience.

The renowned PV-Lab at Switzerland’s École Polytechnique Fédérale De Lausanne today announced that it has taken on the role of coordinator for the EU funded research project ‘Be-Smart’, which aims at developing a European industry for building integrated PV components.

Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, working with Cambridge University, programmed a ‘supercomputer’ to narrow down a list of almost 10,000 materials with the potential to be used in dye-sensitized solar cells to just five that fit their parameters for high performance, low cost and low environmental impact.

The Korean solar manufacturer has lodged a patent infringement lawsuit against Jinko and REC in Germany, and two more against the same companies plus Longi in the U.S. Hanwha Q Cells claims its three rivals have used its patented solar cell passivation technology to increase the performance of their products.

A 60 kW floating array was deployed by New Southern Energy at the reservoir of a fruit farm near Franschhoek, in the Western Cape Province. A second phase of the project will also include storage.