Silbat silicon batteries guarantee uninterrupted power supply for 14 days
The silicon batteries developed by the Spanish startup Silbat are spearheading the Research and Analysis of Long-Duration Energy Storage for Operational Resilience in Critical Military Infrastructures (ARMIC) project, covering Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) 7 to 8.
French startup launches ‘universal’ home energy management system
PvPilot has introduced a home energy management system (HEMS) designed to be compatible with all major brands of solar equipment, targeting France’s fast-growing residential self-consumption market.
The prospects for ultra-high-temperature heat pumps
An international research team has reviewed emerging solid-state and gas-cycle heat pumps capable of reaching temperatures of up to 1,600 K, assessing their challenges, applications, scalability, and technology readiness levels. The researchers say these systems could outperform conventional high-temperature heating technologies by achieving coefficients of performance above 1.
Brazil targets 107 GW of solar by 2035 under energy plan
Brazil has opened consultations on its PDE 2035 energy plan, which projects 107 GW of solar by 2035 – including 78 GW of distributed generation – with battery storage reaching 7 GW, or 2% of the power mix.
South Africans are ‘off-gridding’
Research exploring off-grid practices in South Africa has defined three forms of off-gridding, with reasons for being off-grid varying depending on income background, in turn highlighting that decentralized energy transitions can reproduce existing inequalities.
Optimal solar module row spacing for agrivoltaics across Europe
Researchers in Sweden developed a new methodology to optimize agrivoltaic systems across Europe, showing that row pitch, system type, and panel orientation must be tailored to local climate, crops, and regulatory constraints.
New algorithm reduces solar module temperature during clipping, curtailment
UNSW researchers have developed a thermal-aware tracking algorithm that reduces solar module temperatures and UV exposure during inverter clipping and curtailment, slowing degradation without lowering AC output. Tested in Chile’s Atacama Desert, the strategy was found to lower module temperatures by up to 7.7 C.
Chinese PV Industry Brief: CNMIA reports flat solar cell, module prices
The China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association (CNMIA) says wafer, cell and module prices remain stable, while industry operating rates are edging lower across leading and integrated manufacturers.
World’s fastest supercomputers probing future of sodium-ion batteries
Japanese researchers used supercomputer simulations to reveal how sodium ions form clusters and move within hard carbon anodes, identifying nanopore sizes and transition regions that control diffusion and rate performance in sodium-ion batteries. Their findings offer design guidelines for optimizing hard-carbon anodes to improve energy density, cycling, and commercialization prospects.
Longi builds 27.25%-efficient back-contact solar cells with high-resistivity wafers
High-resistivity silicon wafers offer superior efficiency potential but are highly sensitive to edge recombination and mechanical damage, limiting their commercial use compared to more robust standard wafers. Researchers from Longi and Sun Yat-sen University demonstrated that integrating in-situ edge passivation unlocks this potential, significantly boosting back-contact solar cell fill factor and efficiency.
