Drivers of US solar adoption across income levels
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory researchers have studied how solar buying decisions are influenced across varying income levels.
New air-to-water heat pumps from Italy
Italian manufacturer Thermocold is offering new heat pumps with output ranging from 8 kW to 30 kW. They use propane as the refrigerant and reportedly have a seasonal coefficient of performance of up to 4.5.
Fluxim unveils stress test solution for perovskite solar cells
As perovskite solar cell research gains momentum, Switzerland’s Fluxim has added a stress test module for perovskite PV technologies to its optoelectrical device characterization instrument to automate a variety of experiments.
Midsummer secures funding for 200 MW Swedish solar factory
Swedish thin-film solar manufacturer Midsummer inked a deal with the European Union Innovation Fund grant to receive €32.3 million ($34.8 million) to pay for a third of the company’s soon-to-be-built copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) solar module production facility in Sweden.
Japanese scientists develop high energy density, cobalt-free lithium-ion battery
The new cobalt-free battery yields about 60% greater energy density than conventional lithium-ion batteries for an equivalent weight and volume and sustains unprecedented 1,000 cycles.
US draft rules may disqualify Australian critical minerals from IRA subsidies
A number of Australian critical mineral producers will likely be ineligible for US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) subsidies, as the US government has published draft rules forbidding access to enterprises with stakes held by Chinese investors.
Reducing PV module temperature with beeswax, paraffin wax
Scientists in Iraq have applied two different kinds of phase-change materials to lower the operating temperatures of PV panels. Their experiment showed that beeswax and paraffin wax are particularly effective in achieving this goal, even when they are combined together.
Sharp unveils 575 W TOPCon solar panel with 22.26% efficiency
Sharp’s new IEC61215- and IEC61730-certified solar panels have an operating temperature coefficient of -0.30% per C and a bifaciality factor of over 80%.
New model to predict defrost cycles, behavior of air-sourced heat pumps in cold weather
UK-based researchers have developed a novel method to estimate the amount of defrost cycles a heat pump will experience in the winter and how much energy it would require to implement the cycles. The results of their simulation showed a strong relationship between the number of defrost cycles and the ambient temperature.
Tesla Cybertruck can power homes
Tesla’s new trucks offer 11.5 kW of power output to homes, and 9.6 kW of output via five plugs.
