The solar tech check: Key takeaways from SiliconPV 2022
This week saw more than 300 scientists and PV experts converge in Konstanz, Germany for discussion of the latest development in PV cell technology, and for many the first chance for a face-to-face meeting in quite some time. pv magazine reports from the SiliconPV conference, where the PV research community revealed a strong focus on eliminating or optimizing the use of critical materials like silver and indium from cell production, alongside a wealth of improvements in efficiency and longevity that is still possible for silicon PV technology.
Enel, European Commission sign grant agreement for 3 GW Italian module factory
Enel plans to invest around €600 million in the expansion of its module manufacturing facility in southern Italy. The European Commission will contribute around €118 million to the total sum.
Novel strategy to pair agrivoltaics, solar parks with trackers
Researchers in Spain have developed a way to integrate tree-based agriculture with solar power plants based on north-south-oriented, single-axis trackers. They have identified an ideal geometric space between the module rows for crops to avoid affecting irradiance capture or the trackers.
New solar trailer bus from Sono Motors
The municipal bus fleet in Munich, Germany, will soon be equipped with solar-powered trailer units.
Trina Solar achieves 25.5% efficiency in n-type TOPCon solar cell
The result was confirmed by the National Institute of Metrology of China. It was achieved with a cell size of 210x210mm.
Bisol launches bifacial solar modules with 30% transparency rate for agrivoltaics, carports
The Slovenian solar manufacturer is offering its new product with outputs of 260 and 300W, respectively. Front efficiencies ranges from 13.5% to 14.0% and the temperature coefficient is -0.35% per degree Celsius.
French consortium develops self-cleaning solar module coating
French chemical company Axcentive and solar module manufacturer Photowatt have developed a PV panel coating based on photoactive nanotechnology. The coating relies on a super-hydrophilic surface that makes the water spread out on the module surface immediately, thus avoiding light scattering effects upon rain.
Formamidinium-cesium perovskite solar cell with 24.25% efficiency
Developed by scientists in China, the cell was used to fabricate a 20.5%-efficient mini perovskite module. A dual-functional additive was applied to regulate the crystallization and defects of the formamidinium-cesium perovskite film.
Vanadium redox flow battery prototype from Spain
Researchers in Spain have assembled a 10kW/20kWh vanadium redox flow demonstrator that paves the way for a 50kW battery.
Longi achieves 25.47% efficiency for gallium-doped p-type heterojunction solar cell
The result, confirmed by Germany’s Institute for Solar Energy Research Hamelin (ISFH), was achieved on a heterojunction solar cell based on an M6 wafer.
