Technology and R&D

A Chinese research group has demonstrated an electrical imaging technique using 3D tomographic conductive atomic force microscopy to investigate passivation strategies of perovskite films to improve stability and efficiency of perovskite solar cells.

Chinese authorities are planning to implement a series of policy measures to introduce stronger intellectual property protection to the country’s photovoltaic sector. Chinese enterprises are being encouraged to accelerate technological advancements and reserve basic patents for developing technologies.

A Malaysian research team proposed new concepts such as cowvoltaics, sheepvoltaics, goatvoltaics, veggievoltaics, fruitvoltaics and fishvoltaics to better define the diverse applications of photovoltaics in dual land use. Their review outlines four main categories – livestockvoltaics, crop-based agrivoltaics, aquavoltaics, and zoovoltaics – and presents several business cases.

In two separate projects Japan-based Kyuden Mirai Energy and Nissan Motor are demonstrating the use of flexible, glass-free chalcopyrite PV panels provided by PXP Corporation.

A team at Tokyo University of Science (TUS) has identified a structural mechanism by which adding small amounts of scandium to layered sodium manganese oxide cathodes slows the degradation that typically limits sodium-ion battery lifetimes.

A University of Exeter team has tested single-axis tracking systems for floating solar across 12 UK sites, finding azimuthal tracking delivers the largest energy gains and lowest levelized cost of energy (LCOE).

Chinese battery maker LiTime has introduced its 12V 320Ah Mini Smart Self-Heating Battery, offering 4,096 Wh of energy capacity and 2,560 W of continuous output power.

Scientists have developed a floating PV digital twin system, trained on data from 155 physical experiments, using a two-tier artificial neural network (ANN) with a high-fidelity model and a reduced-order model. Predictive performance reached R2 values of 0.9996 for PV surface temperature and 0.9189 for power output.

Research commissioned by the UK government finds rooftop solar panels can significantly influence fire behavior, particularly when the height gap between modules and the roof surface falls below critical limits.

Researchers in Japan have developed an effective encapsulation with a PET front cover for copper indium gallium diselenide mini-modules. The lab devices withstood damp heat tests, retaining approximately 97 % of initial efficiency after 3,600 h.