Technology and R&D

Felix Krause, co-founder the Vireo Ventures, tells pv magazine that the Berlin-based company plans to make pre-seed and seed-phase investments in startups that are developing innovations for the energy transition.

The Australian Alliance for Energy Productivity (A2EP) has released a free, online estimation tool to aid Australian businesses in sizing heat pumps to replace gas boilers. The tool estimates the capex, opex, net savings, and payback time based on inputs about heating, cooling, location, and temperature requirements.

Chinese scientists have simulated a new photovoltaic-thermoelectric technology, based on radiative cooling and III-V solar cells, to generate electricity at night.

Zola Electric’s new lithium iron phosphate battery system charges from solar and the grid and can power AC and DC appliances. It has a nominal voltage of 12.8 V and a nominal capacity of 50 Ah.

Vast Solar will move forward with plans to deliver Australia’s first commercial-scale concentrated solar power (CSP) plant after securing financial backing from the federal government to build a 30 MW/288 MWh facility in South Australia.

Last year was another landmark 12 months for energy storage, with all indicators pointing to a massive surge in demand. Supply chain instability and inflation saw battery prices rise but the industry demonstrated an ability to swiftly react to geopolitical developments. We look at five trends driving the market.

pv magazine speaks to Jan Rosenow, principal and director of European programs for the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP), about Europe’s top heat pump markets. He says Poland, Slovakia, Sweden, Germany and Finland posted the strongest growth in 2022.

An international consortium led by Israel’s Al-Zahrawi Society has launched the Regace project to develop agrivoltaic solutions for greenhouses. It will investigate the performance of a new tracking system across locations and climates and use carbon dioxide enrichment to improve crop yield.

Calvera Hydrogen has claimed that its new 45-foot hydrogen tube trailer has the largest capacity in the world, Universal Hydrogen has unveiled a hydrogen-powered regional aircraft, and Masdar has signed a green hydrogen production deal with Austrian utility Verbund.

Indian scientists have developed a panel with an electrical efficiency of 13% and and thermal efficiency of 66.6 %. They built the system with a 100 W PV panel, a rectangular absorber, and a cooling technique based on a phase change material (PCM) that uses biochar derived from water hyacinth.