Technology and R&D

North Carolina State University (NCSU) has developed an energy-efficient strategy for room-temperature hydrogen release from liquid hydrogen carriers, which uses less rhodium. Elsewhere in the world, Airbus launched its Zero Emission Development Centre in the UK, Toshiba ESS teamed up with Fusion Fuel to target Australian and European markets, and Corfo signed agreements to finance three renewable hydrogen projects with GNL Quintero, iCAP, and Air Liquide in Chile.

An international team of researchers have published a review of all factors affecting PV module performance. They looked at mainstream crystalline silicon technology, thin-film solar, perovskites, and organic solar cells, and offered insight on reliability, quality and testing standards.

An international group of scientists has used bulk passivation and surface passivation techniques to implement terbium doping in an all-inorganic perovskite solar cell, while using quantum dots to improve the stability of the perovskite itself.

Ireland has given the green light to install a 700 MW, high-voltage direct current submarine power cable between its southern coast and the northwestern coast of France.

The cell stability was improved with the addition of ferrocene at the perovskite/spiro-OMeTAD interface. It was able to retain around 70% of its initial efficiency after 1,250 hours.

The proposed methodology relies on geographic information and meteorological data. Project developers can use it to evaluate the potential energy production by a photovoltaic system for either a long or short time.

The panel measures 1,894 mm x 1,096 mm x 30 mm, weighs in at 22.5 kg, and has a temperature coefficient of -0.34% per C.

Scientists in Japan have developed new processes for CIGS solar cell manufacturing, entirely eliminating the use of cadmium and replacing a waste-intensive wet chemical stage. With a thin film deposited on a flexible steel substrate, the group achieved 16.7% efficiency, which it says is a record for a cell of this type produced using scalable fabrication processes.

Scientists in the UK and Japan used the latest imaging techniques to observe the inner workings of a perovskite solar cell at the scale of a few nanometers. Their findings suggest that a single defect is responsible for both limiting initial performance and causing degradation of the cell. By altering chemical compositions and process parameters, the appearance of this defect can be quickly reduced, and the group is confident that its finding could quickly be applied in large-scale processing as well.

The “all electric” movement is shining new light on heat pumps. A recent survey looks at their costs in terms of replacements for heating and air conditioning systems.