Technology and R&D

Scientists in India fabricated a redox flow battery based on zinc and iron that showed strong storage characteristics and no signs of degradation over 30 charge-discharge cycles. The battery also showed no signs of dendrite formation, overcoming one of the key hurdles for redox-flow batteries based on these low-cost, abundant materials.

Developed by Chinese researchers, the novel design methodology consists of utilizing metal brackets as mounting structures, conventional solar panels, and a grooved glass plate placed between the solar panels. According to its creators, it ensures a farmer’s average income increases by 5.14 times, including the solar power generation business. A system built with this approach should cost around €715 per kW installed.

The battery operates at 230 degrees Fahrenheit, opening what researchers said could be “a whole cascading cost savings” including everything from less expensive materials to less insulation.

Developed by a Vietnamese-Korean research group, the complex PV device was built with a bottom bifacial crystalline silicon perovskite-filtered heterojunction sub-cell that is able to absorb all solar spectra in the short-wavelength range.

A new study from Stanford University professor Mark Jacobson models energy grids powered by 100% wind, water and sunlight across Western Europe. The study finds that in such a scenario, increased interconnection between countries would lead to lower energy costs and better grid stability, as well as a hedge against sudden loss of supply due to extreme weather or other events.

German researchers developed a lattice arrangement of three different layers of ferroelectric crystals that created a powerful photovoltaic effect.

Chiyoda Corporation and Mitsubishi Corporation to conduct a joint feasibility study for a commercial-scale import of hydrogen from overseas sources to one terminal in the port of Rotterdam. Furthermore, the UK government said it wants to produce produce hydrogen from nuclear and Japan’s automotive manufacturer Toyota Motor is looking into geothermal potential for hydrogen production.

The country added around 22.5 MW/37.9 MWh of new, small-sized storage capacity in the first quarter of 2021.

The energy payback time of a silicon PV rooftop system mounted in India is only 0.44 of one year (160.6 days), compared to 0.53-0.67 years in Africa, 1-1.3 years in Europe, and 1.42 years in Canada, as revealed by a world map by German research body the Fraunhofer Institute of Solar Energy Systems (ISE). For the calculation, the report authors considered the installation used a typical, Chinese-made, 60-cell, PERC, 19.9%-efficient solar module.

Producing nutrient-rich microbes with solar PV has the potential to produce more food with fewer resources, according to a German research group that modeled the large-scale production of microbial biomass by combining ground-mounted photovoltaics, air, water, and nutrients.