Technology and R&D

Grid bottlenecks are increasing in the northern Netherlands and solar project developers will see fewer chances to build PV facilities there.

Korean researchers have built a CISSe solar cell that can be used as a bottom cell for applications in tandem cells with a top cell based on perovskite. In the manufacturing process, they replaced the vacuum technology with air annealing and the result was a record-breaking efficiency combined with potential lower production costs.

The Q.Peak Duo XL-G11.3 panel is currently the largest and most powerful panel produced by the Korea-based manufacturer. It features a temperature coefficient of -0.34% per degree Celsius and comes with a 25-year linear performance warranty.

Conceived by scientists in China, the battery was built with a special hydrogel electrolyte made of polyacrylamide (PAM), zinc sulfate (ZnSO4), glycerol (GL), and acetonitrile (AN). The device showed high cycling stability of over 3,000 cycles, a high reversibility thanks to a Coulombic efficiency of up to 99.5%, and electrochemical performance of 185 mAh·g over 10,000 cycles.

The complex will combine a 50MW photovoltaic plant with 128MWh of long-term green hydrogen storage and batteries. The solar part is described by the company as an agrivoltaic plant that will host a herd of 1,830 sheep.

President Emmanuel Macron said agrivoltaics will become one of the main pillars of France’s energy system. Xavier Daval, chair of French solar commission SER-Soler, spoke with pv magazine about the recognition of the role of solar integrated into agricultural production.

From pv magazine 02/2022 One of the biggest differences between residential EVs is in terms of solar-optimized charging. With solar-optimized charging an energy management system adjusts the charging power so that, as far as possible, charging always takes place with the surplus rooftop solar electricity. Such systems, if there is little sunshine or household electricity […]

Production for the HyDeal project is planned to start in 2025; the total installed capacity is expected to reach 9.5 GW of solar power and 7.4 GW of electrolyzers by 2030. Elsewhere in the world, India and Brazil are preparing rules and laws to promote green hydrogen, while research activities continue to increase hydrogen fuel cell’s efficiency and hydrogen’s use in the aviation sector.

US start-up mPower Technology is scaling up its flexible crystalline silicon solar module technology for spatial and terrestrial applications. The back-contact solar panels consist of micro-singulated silicon dies that are “hyper-interconnected” in series or in parallel. The devices have efficiency ranging from 22 to 23% depending on the size or applications.

Chinese manufacturer Bslbatt has unveiled a modular lithium-ion battery that can be used for the off-grid storage of solar energy. The device has a storage capacity ranging from 5.1 to 30.7 kWh and is claimed to provide steady operation for up to 6,000 charge cycles.