Technology and R&D

Sharp Corporation has achieved what it says is the highest silicon solar cell conversion efficiency globally. At 36.9 percent, the company says the results have been confirmed by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology.

According to a new U.S. survey, solar is the most popular energy resource. The majority of Americans, it found, believe it should receive federal subsidies. Meanwhile, many say they would be more likely to buy a product if it were made using solar.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has developed what it says is a “game-changing” furnace for the solar cell industry.

U.S.-based Natcore Technology Inc. and the Italian MX Holding S.p.A. are looking to form a joint venture (JV) aimed at developing new technologies for a consortium of Italian photovoltaic panel producers. They will also open a new manufacturing facility.

Ideal Power Converters (IPC) has been awarded USD$2.5 million by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) to develop lighter and cheaper solar inverters.

Mercom Capital Group provides an update on the Indian solar market, including the funding status of current photovoltaic projects, accumulated capacity, and the country’s proposed pipeline.

In an exclusive interview, Ramamoorthy Ramesh, director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) SunShot initiative talks to pv magazine about the program, in addition to solar funding in the U.S., future technological developments and competing with the Chinese.

A new high-performance, flexible copper nanowire, first developed at Duke University in the U.S. last year and now being commercialized at a spin-off company called NanoForge Corporation, may drive down the cost of solar cell production.

Stion has opened a 100 megawatt (MW) thin film manufacturing factory in Hattiesburg, the U.S. Meanwhile, the company has reached 14.1 percent efficiency on its thin film circuits.

New research has indicated that the installed cost of photovoltaic systems in the U.S. “substantially” decreased in 2010 and during the first six months of 2011. For the first time, data is available on utility-scale installed costs trends.