Alpha Innotec launches new residential heat pumps
The German manufacturer said the new air-to-water systems are part of its Hybrox series. Their coefficient of performance is between 4.3 and 5.3 and their size ranges from 11 kW to 16 kW.
Indian researchers develop solar cell from living algae
The researcher team, from Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham university in Coimbatore, India, sandwiched macroalgae between a carbon-coated copper electrode and a titanium oxide-coated fluorine-doped tin oxide electrode. The 1 cm2 device exhibited a 1.25 mA photocurrent and 0.5 V photovoltage under UV light.
A new twist on thermal storage
Power Panel offers a PV and thermal storage solution that combines simple, safe and easy to manage hot water with advanced thermoplastic technology and architecture.
Australian solar manufacturing through the looking glass
The Silicon to Solar report, partly funded by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, outlines ways to restore solar manufacturing to the nation with a little help from the country’s major trading partner – China.
SGC, SMO to deploy 100 MW of solar waste-to-energy in Australia
SGC and SMO say they plan to install 100 MW of solar waste-to-energy systems in Australia. They aim to deploy a total of 50 waste-to-energy units in the next three years, with plans to scale up to 1 GW in the future.
Chinese PV Industry Brief: CNMIA says polysilicon, wafer prices continue to fall
The China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association (CNMIA) says that prices for n-type rod silicon fell 3.3% on a weekly basis to between CNY 55,000 ($7,600) and CNY 60,000 per ton this week. It reports that wafer prices also fell between 3.5% and 15.6% during the same period.
European Solar sees warm, cloudy end to winter, linked to record temperatures
In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that in March most European solar operators and grids saw less solar irradiance and production than normal, due to enhanced westerly winds bringing moist air off a relatively warm Atlantic ocean. Large areas of the continent saw irradiance down 10% to 25% below normal for March.
Maxeon unveils TOPCon solar module series for rooftop PV
Maxeon said its new Sunpower Performance 7 panel series features a power conversion efficiency of up to 22.7% and an operating temperature coefficient of -0.29% C.
Australian water storage facility may turn into 1 GW pumped hydro station
Zen Energy has secured approval from Australia’s WaterNSW to investigate how to transform Sydney’s biggest water storage facility into a 1 GW pumped hydro project capable of supplying on-demand power for up to eight hours.
Perovskite solar cell based on playdough-like graphite electrodes achieves 20.29% efficiency
Researchers in China have fabricated a carbon-based perovskite solar cells that achieves almost the same efficiency as perovskite counterparts based on gold electrodes while also providing higher stability. The novel devices use a playdough-like graphite (PG) electrode that combines the deformable property of carbon paste and the solvent-free property of carbon film.
