Technology and R&D

The Chinese company says the new product targets long-duration storage, grid support, and GWh-scale deployment.

An international research team has developed an AI-driven robotic platform that autonomously designs, fabricates, and optimizes perovskite solar cells, completing the full experimental workflow in a closed-loop system. Using the platform, the researchers fabricated and tested more than 50,000 devices, achieving efficiencies of up to 27%.

Tandem PV has opened a 40 MW commercial demonstration factory in Fremont, California, marking a significant transition for perovskite-silicon technology from laboratory development to repeatable manufacturing at scale.

Jinko Power signed a framework agreement with Zhongwei to develop a 1 GW data center in Ningxia, marking its entry into green computing under China’s “Eastern Data, Western Computing” initiative. The project, however, remains subject to approvals and funding scrutiny.

The battery manufacturing heavyweight presented its latest sodium-ion products at ESIE 2026 earlier this month, expanding its push into grid-scale storage, AI data centers, and long-life applications.

Researchers in Italy analyzed air-to-water heat pump performance in Alpine regions, focusing on how start-up and defrost cycles affect efficiency under current and future climate conditions. Their simulations show that while warmer temperatures slightly reduce defrosting losses and modestly improve efficiency, start-up cycling losses remain significant and continue to limit overall performance gains.

Research from Germany’s FernUniversität Hagen finds the solar rebound effect, caused by households increasing their total electricity consumption after installing a solar system, is currently a blind stop in Europe’s energy system planning and abatement scenarios.

Cloud and SaaS platforms are now central to PV plant operations, but their centralization creates a high-impact cybersecurity risk where a single compromise can expose or disrupt entire fleets of installations. Attackers exploit weaknesses like stolen credentials, insecure APIs, multi-tenant flaws, and platform vulnerabilities, making strong identity controls, secure APIs, and continuous monitoring essential defenses.

Taisei Corporation has demonstrated that a building can operate entirely on solar power by combining PV generation with a hybrid storage system integrating batteries and low-pressure hydrogen at a test facility in Yokohama. An EMS-enabled setup using lithium-ion batteries and PEM electrolysis balanced short- and long-term energy supply and demand, enabling year-round renewable operation, according to the company.

The new inverter is designed around standardized 5 MW and 5.5 MW PV sub-arrays with the aim to reduce balance-of-system costs. It features a maximum efficiency of 99.0% and a high-voltage architecture of up to 1,600 Vdc and 1,000 Vac.