Technology and R&D

Scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), have used an antioxidant known as L-glutathione as an interlayer in an organic PV cell to prevent other materials from oxidizing. The cell has an efficiency of 13.5% and an average visible transmittance of 21.5%. The researchers said it is suitable for applications in solar greenhouses.

The European Union is working on a draft proposal, which pv magazine has seen, that would require 85% of the components used in European wind farms – along with 60% of heat pumps, 85% of batteries, and 85% of electrolyzers – to be manufactured on the continent.

Technique Solaire plans to analyze animal behavior in outdoor poultry farms covered with solar panels linked by nets. The setup could be potentially beneficial for the birds and the quality of their meat.

Fraunhofer ISE has presented the results of retrofit heat pump installations in multi-family homes in Germany. One demonstrator featured rooftop solar PV and a multi-source heat pump developed in partnership with Viessmann. It uses air and geothermal as heat sources.

Scientists from Germany’s Fraunhofer ISE and US panel maker Solaria have applied thermal laser separation and post-metallization passivated edge technology to tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) cell production. They have developed shingle PV devices that are more efficient than cells built with conventional laser scribing and mechanical cleaving methods.

United Kingdom-based Above’s founder and CEO Will Hitchcock sits down with pv magazine to discuss the solar industry’s growing demand for drone-based aerial inspection and data analysis, the game changing utility of digital twins, and what the future holds for autonomous drone programs. 

Scientists in the Netherlands have proposed the extension of the IEC 61853 standard to bifacial solar modules, with some key corrections. In particular, they recommend changing the third and fourth parts of the standard.

Researchers at the University of Hong Kong have discovered a series of anionic network solid electrolytes that can deliver at least a fourfold improvement in cationic transport for lithium-metal battery applications.

KStar’s new all-in-one energy storage system for commercial and industrial (C&I) applications features a 5.12 kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery system with a 50 kW inverter. It includes two clusters of batteries with 10 modules each, for a maximum capacity of 102.4 kWh.

Honda has revealed that it is testing a pilot stationary fuel cell stationary power system in California.