Technology and R&D

Trina Solar has unveiled its Vertex N solar panels for commercial, industrial and utility-scale projects, and the Vertex S+ modules for residential installations.

Recom’s new Puma series of solar panels, with 21.7% efficiency and 675 W of maximum output, are ideal for large-scale solar projects. The panels have a temperature coefficient of -0.34% per degree Celsius.

Enel Green Power’s new solar panel has average efficiencies ranging from 22.6% to 22.9% and a temperature coefficient of -0.24% per degree Celsius. It is based on an n-type solar cell with G12 format and a power conversion efficiency of 24.6%.

An international group of researchers has demonstrated an aqueous zinc battery with excellent performance in terms of capacity, rate capability, specific energy, and output voltage. The supercapacitor-battery hybrid device has also shown unprecedented cycling stability 99.2% capacity retention after 17,000 cycles at 100% depth of discharge.

Leading solar researchers from around the world are meeting for the first time in four years in Milan, Italy, for the 8th World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion (WCPEC-8). The first morning has seen prestigious awards bestowed on two scientific leaders and inspirational discussions as to how the “second terawatt” of solar can be installed globally in just a handful of years.

The technology is available for virtual power plants to be rolled out across the United States, argues Jigar Shah, the director of the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office. Their implementation could result in a cascade of benefits, including lower electricity costs and wider adoption of distributed energy resources like rooftop PV.

Oz Minerals has given the green light to a AUD 1.7 billion ($1.1 billion) copper and nickel project in Western Australia that will be powered by a mix of solar PV and wind generation.

The Solliance consortium achieved a 29.2% record efficiency for the solar cell in November 2021, from just 28.7% in March 2020. In recent months, it increased the perovskite cell for the tandem device from 17.8% to 19.7%.

Lhyfe has started an 18-month offshore green hydrogen pilot project in France, while SSAB, LKAB, and Vattenfall have commissioned a pilot facility to store fossil-free hydrogen gas in Sweden. The EU and US, meanwhile, have both announced progress on policy measures to support hydrogen.

EnerVenue has agreed to supply batteries to Green Energy Renewable Solutions for use in customized building blocks for maritime applications, construction sites, and other heavy industry projects. The agreement marks EnerVenue’s fourth major battery supply deal since it launched operations in 2020.