Technology and R&D

The new heterojunction module series is compatible with Panasonic’s Evervolt battery and has a power output ranging from 400 to 410 W. It also features a temperature coefficient of -0.26% per degree Celsius.

The research institute has upgraded its REopt web tool to include ground-source heat pump technologies. US homeowners will now be able to simulate the impact of converting conventional heating and cooling systems to geothermal heat pumps.

Cornell Researchers have found that upstate New Yorkers prefer rooftop solar to community solar under 50 acres, but opinions are split 50/50 over large-scale ground mounts. The distaste for utility-scale solar is strongest when converting forests, public land and productive farmland.

Developed by a Canadian start-up, Solar Ink can be used to create standalone perovskite solar modules or it can be combined with existing solar modules in a tandem configuration. It can be coated on both flexible and rigid substrates, resulting in translucent solar cells which, in turn, can be used to produce flexible and light modules for application in solar windows and vehicle-integrated photovoltaics.

Spanish researchers have developed a new modeling technique to assess the performance of semi-transparent PV systems for greenhouses. Their novel approach considers the broadband and spectral content of the irradiance, the solar cell technology and its performance metrics, and the relationship between the photosynthetic rate and the effective photon flux that falls on the crops.

Seraphim’s new solar modules are available in monofacial and bifacial variants. They rely on multi-busbar technology and are built with 210 mm silicon wafers.

Current price signals to distributed battery owners “do not align with grid value,” says a study from the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory.

A solar panel on display at a science museum in the Netherlands is one of 2,748 modules that were used for the country’s oldest PV system. The module has an efficiency of around 9% and a power output of 18W. It was manufactured by Germany-based AEG-Telefunken in 1982.

The device achieved the highest efficiency and fill factor ever reported for an all-polymer solar cell based on polymerized small molecular acceptors. The cell was built with a top donor material known as PBDB-T and an electron acceptor made of the polymer PYT.

Florida utility FPL has been mulching solar panel packaging – cardboard boxes and pallets – to save approximately $130,000 per 75 MW (AC) site, compared to standard disposal practices.