Technology and R&D

An international team of researchers have demonstrated how to speed up the research and development of scalable, high-performing organic solar cells by using an automated, high-throughput platform. It relies on digital twin technology and roll-to-roll (R2R) printing in a closed-loop system.

Scientists in India have combined 2D perovskite solar cell technology with MXenes materials to build a PV device with remarkable efficiency and open-circuit voltage. They claim the new cell architecture is key to helping charge carriers move smoothly through the cell layers and reduce recombination losses.

TBEA has developed a new 1,500 V string inverter with a maximum efficiency of 99.02%, maximum power point tracking (MPPT), a maximum input current of 65 A, and a maximum short circuit current of 115 A.

The new EScal HV offers installations of between 17 kWh and 350 kWh using a stackable system that allows up to 15 modules to be placed in series, and four strings in parallel.

The City of Campbell contracted with Paired Power to install its Pairtree solar canopy.

ERM says it has launched offshore trials to test its Dolphyn Hydrogen process, while Southern California Gas (SoCalGas) and Evoloh have completed a joint research project on electrolyzer manufacturing process and anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolyzer tech.

At SNEC 2024 in Shanghai, pv magazine spoke with Puzant Baliozian, lead consultant of sector group photovoltaic equipment for Germany’s Machinery and Equipment Manufacturers Association (VDMA). He says tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) technology will dominate the solar market in the next 10 years and expects module manufacturers will compete to develop more creative product designs. He also believes that copper metallization will gain market share in heterojunction (HJT) module production in the next years. “In the upcoming decade, we will have less than mg/W of silver being used for both TOPCon and HJT technologies,” he stated.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that, while in June Western Europe experienced below-average irradiance, Eastern Europe and the Balkans in particular saw a notable increase, resulting from persistent and static weather patterns.

French company HDF Energy has equipped its new polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) hydrogen fuel-cell production plant with a 500 kW solar project, by adjusting the PV modules and inverters to fit the sawtooth roof design.

An Australian-made, 10 kW renewable hydrogen generator has been installed 120 km east of Melbourne, as part of a pilot project to provide backup to telecom towers disabled by outages.