Akuo speaks out on recent fire accident at its 17MW floating PV plant in France
Nearly a month after the fire occurred at the O’Mega 1 floating power plant in Piolenc, Akuo has drawn the first conclusions from the incident. pv magazine was able to visit the site to observe the damage, gather lessons, and see the arrangements put in place by the site managers.
Hydrogen-powered boat to sail in Australian waters within 18 months
Australia’s Poseidon Marine H2 says it expects to have a hydrogen-powered boat in Australian waters within the next 18 months, after bringing on board the principal engineers from Dynamic Efficiency.
Testing different PV module brands in photovoltaic-thermal architectures
Solar modules from Trina Solar, Canadian Solar, and Felicity Solar were tested in a prototype of a photovoltaic-thermal collector that uses excess heat from the PV elements to heat water. The system uses a thermally insulated helical coil heat exchanger to recover panel heat and a solenoid valve to allow water recirculation when the temperature below the PV module rises significantly.
Solid-state lithium-ion battery with capacity retention of over 4mAh/sq cm
Researchers from the University of Waterloo, Canada, have developed a new solid chloride electrolyte that swaps out half of the indium for scandium and offers several important advantages, such as high voltage operation.
Underwriters Laboratories to assess Redflow’s redox flow batteries
Underwriters Laboratories, a US non-profit standards development organization, will carry out research into the operating and safety profile of Redflow’s redox flow batteries under nominal and off-nominal conditions.
Solar module anti-soiling coating for retrofit application
Dutch company Rads Global Business has developed an anti-soiling coating for solar PV modules that are at least two years old. The new product is claimed to increase power yield by up to 7% and to have a payback time of 2.5 to four years depending on the dust level of the site.
Green hydrogen, blue hydrogen to reach cost parity in Europe by 2030
The direct coupling of electrolyzers with PV and wind power systems will become the cheapest forms of energy in many parts of Europe, according to Aurora Energy Research.
‘The major solar players will shift from PERC to TOPCon’
US analyst Clean Energy Associates made some notable predictions in its Q4 survey of the world solar manufacturing market, including echoing predictions made elsewhere that the new polysilicon production capacity coming online now will help arrest the spike in solar panel prices.
Mini perovskite solar module with 40 sq cm aperture area, 17% efficiency
The 19.2%-efficient perovskite cells used in the module rely on an electron layer based on tin oxide that was deposited via chemical bath deposition. This technique, according to the device’s creators, has made it possible to have a relatively small drop in efficiency from small cells to the 40cm2 module.
Wireless EV charging coming soon to US market
WiTricity has unveiled plans to develop wireless charging stations for select electric vehicle models.
