Technology and R&D

The industry sector is most challenging to defossilize, due to high energy and feedstock demand, large and continuously running production plants, hard-to-abate process emissions, and infrastructural challenges. In public discourse, hydrogen is discussed prominently for industry, but its role may be overestimated. Solar PV as the least cost source of electricity may bring the electrification of industry to the next level.

Renewable and clean energy is one of the most effective solutions to reduce carbon emissions, but they are also strongly affected by climate change. IEC Standards and conformity assessment can help them to be more resilient.

A questionnaire and focus group study of households in the UK city of Bristol found residents have a lack of access to technical and ‘common sense’ information on the transition to heat pumps. Able-to-pay residents became more willing to invest as they learned about the technology.

Qatari researchers tell pv magazine that they have designed the world’s first hybrid station concept combining PV, liquid air, hydrogen storage, and batteries for EV charging and hydrogen refueling.

An American research group has conducted a pilot workshop for agrivoltaics stakeholders in Arizona, including farmers, developers, government officials and indigenous leaders. A reflection paper offers some key takeaways for future public participation.

BMW and E.ON say they have launched Germany’s first commercial vehicle-to-grid (V2G) solution, allowing EV owners to provide grid access while ensuring no impact on battery life.

The US Federal Highway Administration (FHA) has warned that cellular radios have been found in unspecified foreign-made inverters and batteries used in PV highway infrastructure, according to Reuters. pv magazine speaks with cybersecurity expert Uri Sadot about the risks.

Norwegian vertical PV specialist Over Easy is developing several vertical rooftop PV projects in Spain. It said one of the projects, a 2.4 kW vertical, has an east-west orientation and is located in the Elche business park, near Alicante, in the southern part of the country.

The Chinese company says that the new product is available in 40 kW, 50 kW, and 60 kW versions. The product has a maximum efficiency of 99%.

Half way through its three-year research program, the Pearl consortium of European research institutes has surpassed 21% efficiency on its flexible perovskite solar cells featuring bendable substrates and has demonstrated scalable roll-to-roll processes.