Technology and R&D

KPIT, an India-based automotive software and engineering solutions supplier, has unveiled its proprietary sodium-ion battery technology, and is now on the lookout for manufacturing partners. Ravi Pandit, chairman of KPIT, tells pv magazine, that that the company has developed multiple variants with energy density ranging from 100 Wh/kg to 170 Wh/kg, and potentially reaching 220 Wh/kg.

A handful of projects are now exploring for “natural” hydrogen, also known as “white” hydrogen. pv magazine speaks with Adam Bumby, associate professor of structural geology at the University of Pretoria, about the HyAfrica project and the geological strata and structures that are most suitable for hydrogen storage.

A team of scientists at Germany’s Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen Nürnberg has set an efficiency record of 14.46% for an organic PV module. The performance was certified by Germany’s Fraunhofer Institue for Solar Energy’s PV calibration laboratory (CalLab).

German renewable energy developer BayWa re has collected scientific data on aquatic fauna, water quality, and avifauna from several environmental impact monitoring studies on eight of its operational floating PV facilities in Europe. It has found the artificial habitats under the panels offer protection to some animal species and improvements to water quality.

CEA-INES researchers and Enel have developed a new solar cell with an active area of 9 cm² and an open-circuit voltage above 1,900 mV. Their results improve on the 27.1% efficiency they achieved for the same kind of cell in June.

Brenmiller Energy’s thermal energy storage demonstration system at the State University of New York uses crushed rocks to store energy from renewables or the grid.

PreussenElektra has revealed plans to potentially develop Europe’s largest battery storage facility at the decommissioned Brokdorf nuclear power plant site in Germany, with 800 MW/1,600 MWh of capacity. The site operator now needs to secure approval to dismantle the nuclear plant.

Scientists in Czechia have proposed to use parallel inverters in PV systems to not only reduce instability, but also to increase power yield. The proposed approach reportedly results in higher maximum power point tracking (MPPT) performance.

Two new PV bike-path projects are now operating in the Netherlands under an initiative launched in 2018 by Rijkswaterstaat, the Dutch water management agency.

A 28-kilometer underground power cable owned by Italian grid operator Terna started work on Friday, the company announced. The interconnector connects substations in Glorenza northern Italy and Nauders eastern Austria.