Technology and R&D

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) says solar is the only renewable energy technology where current investment levels are approaching the annual average needed through to 2030 to align with its 1.5 C pathway.

A new industrial partnership driven by defense-related technology transfer says Colombia could emerge as a strategic hub for lightweight copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) manufacturing.

U.S. researchers have developed a sodium-ion pouch cell that operates reliably at temperatures as low as –100 C. The battery was tested with simulated and real renewable energy sources, including wind and solar, and maintained stable performance in both laboratory and field conditions.

The Chinese manufacturer said the cell uses a multifunctional organic ammonium salt to improve interfacial engineering between the perovskite absorber and the electron transport layers. The device also achieved 24.5% efficiency when scaled up to a 1 cm² active area.

Researchers in Iran have investigated how twisted tape in water-cooled channels can enhance heat transfer in solar modules. They have used a computer simulation to analyze the new approach with different parameters and have found the panels’ ectrical efficiency increased by up to 11.84%.

A Spanish research team demonstrated a broadband antireflective coating for gallium arsenide solar cells. Based on thermally oxidized gallium nanoparticles, the nanostructured coating reduced reflectance by 30% across the solar spectrum, and increased solar cell performance by 10%.

The US mounting system provider said its new product is designed to fit both Cee and Zee purlin-framed structures. It features a bottom-oriented setscrew.

A US research team has developed all-solid-state sodium batteries that retain performance down to subzero temperatures. The systems utilize a special chloride-based solid-electrolyte-coated cathode.

Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology say their polymer coating could be used to protect photovoltaic modules, due to its impermeability to gases. The team has demonstrated that a 60-nanometer-thick film can extend the lifetime of a perovskite crystal by several weeks.

Using the mask-and-plate copper metallization technique, scientists at the German research center fabricated a 1.21 cm² perovskite–silicon tandem solar cell featuring a heterojunction bottom device. The cell achieved an efficiency of 19.35%, reportedly the highest value reached to date for this cell type using galvanic front metallization.