Technology and R&D

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, OPIS, a Dow Jones company, provides a quick look at the main price trends in the global PV industry.

What happens to a solar PV module after its expected 25-year operational life? With around 2 TW of rooftop and utility-scale PV already deployed worldwide, and a large number of them being retired before operating for 15 years, the amount of PV modules being discarded is growing every year. As PV modules are becoming cheaper by the day, and with the constant improvement in PV module efficiencies, many utility-scale PV power plants are starting to be repowered even before they reach their expected 25 years of operation. Many of these modules are still performing well. Can they be deployed for a second life to provide solar electricity for a few more years?

New research from Germany shows that investing in residential PV remains an optimal choice even when price breaks on electricity and natural gas are applied. The scientists quantified the savings that PV systems achieved between 2019 and 2022, when the COVID-19 crisis and the outburst of the war in Ukraine made prices in the electricity markets extremely volatile.

New research from Spain reveals that stricter environmental impact assessments of large scale PV plants contrasts with smaller solar parks, which are not subject to the same degree of restrictions. The review also highlighted the need for more cumulative and synergistic environmental impact assessments.

The novel propane heat pump has a coefficient of performance of up to 4.9 and can reportedly achieve a flow temperature of up to 55 C.

Designed for U.S. solar installations, the GEN24 Plus inverter enables users to connect their solar array to home energy storage.

By coating the iron sulfide cathodes in polymers, a research team was able to create transition-metal sulfide-based lithium batteries with stable cycling and high safety. After 300 cycles, a lithium carbide iron disulfide pouch cell retained 72.0% capacity with no capacity degradation after 100 cycles.

Aplitop and Soltec have partnered to develop a computer-aided design (CAD) plugin application aimed at simplifying the planning process and reducing earth-moving operations, measurements, and the relocation of solar trackers in ground-mounted PV projects.

GE Vernova has developed a 2,000 V (DC) utility-scale inverter, to be used in a North American pilot operation starting in early 2025. The inverter offers up to 6.0 MVA of output power.

Tandem solar-cell technology featuring silicon has been widely researched but materials such as perovskites, paired with established thin-film solar or with other perovskite cells, are pointing to a new development path.