Technology and R&D

Belgium’s transmission and distribution system operator says it plans to allow household solar panels and batteries with a plug and socket to connect to the grid from May 2025.

The device developed by TU Bergakademie Freiberg researchers uses aluminum as an anode, graphite as a cathode, and a polymer-based solid electrolyte. It is being validated and further developed for industrial production. The goal is storage capacity of 10 kWh.

Chinese module maker Aiko Solar says it has built a 150 kW off-grid solar carport at an altitude of 4,300 meters on Mount Everest, featuring 645 W bifacial dual-glass modules and 200 kWh of battery storage.

Developed by a Chinese research group, the novel refrigerant is made of a mixture of carbon dioxide (CO2) and a non-flammable hydrofluoroolefin. It has slightly higher costs compared to conventional compounds, but its creators claims these costs could be significantly reduced with large-scale industrial production.

In a paper published in nature, the Chinese module maker explained that the 33.9%-efficient tandem device it unveiled in December 2023 is based on a bilayer intertwined passivation strategy that combines efficient electron extraction with further suppression of nonradiative recombination. It also revealed that its two-terminal tandem prototype devices achieved an efficiency of 34.6%.

New research from India shows how bifacial solar modules should be deployed to achieve strong performance in floating PV projects planned on tropical freshwater. Their experimental setup demonstrated that higher efficiency gains are achievable by gauging panel height, water depth, and tilt angle.

Halocell Energy, an Australian perovskite solar cell developer, is close to bringing its first indoor solar product to market.

Webasto, a German automotive industry supplier and developer of vehicle integrated PV, unveiled a new sun roof system concept with components that are 40% lighter and a capacity of 350 kWh per year.

The Canada-based manufacturer said its new panels have a temperature coefficient of -0.29% per C and an efficiency of up to 22.92%. They come with a 30-year power output guarantee for 89.3% of the initial yield.

Antonio Delgado Rigal, CEO of Spain’s AleaSoft Energy Forecasting, speaks with pv magazine about the rise in negative price hours in major European energy markets. He emphasizes the need for more storage capacity and argues that negative price periods will probably not threaten project profitability over the long term.