Technology and R&D

The company said it plans to quadruple its battery manufacturing capacity by the end of 2023. The 2.8 MWh lithium-ferro phosphate battery will be unveiled at the RE+ conference in California.

Energy Vault’s EVx storage system is comparable to pumped hydro, using grid-scale renewable energy when supply is abundant to drive motors and raise 30-ton blocks on a six-arm crane tower, rather than water, up to a height. When power needs to be discharged back to the grid, the blocks are lowered, harvesting the kinetic energy.

A Dutch research group has developed a passivation technique for heterojunction solar cells based on a hydrogenated amorphous silicon layer. Their cell achieved an in-house-certified power conversion efficiency of 24.18%, an open-circuit voltage of 726.0 mV, a short-circuit current of 39.97 mA/cm2, and a fill factor of 83.3%.

Researchers at the University of Leicester have developed a new method of extracting silver and aluminum from end-of-life PV cells using iron chloride and aluminum chloride dissolved in brines. According to them, the cheap solvents retrieve up to 95% of the metals within 10 minutes, achieving a 98% purity of silver chloride.

Transmission network operator Transgrid is counting on technology developed in the United States to increase the capacity for the bidirectional flow of energy between Australia’s most populous states with works on the Victoria to New South Wales Interconnector upgrade project nearing completion.

Hanwha Q Cells has combined its solar panels and batteries with Samsung’s heat pumps. The offering includes an app that reportedly optimizes power consumption while maximizing solar power utilization.

Paired Power said its new 5 kW solar canopy measures 3.2 meters x 5.2 meters x 3.7 meters and can host up to 10 bifacial solar panels. It can be used in on-grid or off-grid modes and can be paired with lithium-ion battery storage systems up to 40 kWh in size.

Indian researchers have assessed the full range of flywheel storage technologies and have presented a survey of different applications for uninterrupted power supply (UPS), transport, solar, wind, storage, flexible AC transmission-system (FACTS) devices, and other applications.

Chinese researchers have used inverted perovskite cells with a p-i-n structure to build a perovskite solar module with a reduced heat-affected zone. The panel achieved a power conversion efficiency of 21.07% and a geometric fill factor of 95.5%.

Shell has revealed it will use Driivz’s EV charging platform in Europe, and Nissan said it will offer bidirectional charging in the US market. Schneider Electric, meanwhile, has unveiled a new EV charger.