Technology and R&D

Researchers led by the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi have projected the waste expected from end-of-life solar panels and related components. They assumed 347.5 GW of total installed solar generation capacity would be reached this decade. The academics said the waste would include critical metals worth around $645 trillion, 70% of which could be recovered.

Junior power minister Nasrul Hamid, speaking at a signing ceremony for a planned 100 MW project, warned technology would have to develop to require less surface area for solar modules, although he did say Dhaka would fund research into rooftop solar.

The cell was fabricated with a flexible substrate made of indium tin oxide (ITO) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The device was tested through a damp heat test and showed it can retain around 90% of its initial efficiency after 800 hours.

The pilot project is combining hydrogen fuel cell generators with a combined capacity of 500 kW with a 570 kW solar array and 1.1 MWh of lithium-ion batteries. It is planned to come online in the spring of 2022.

India’s Aegeus Technologies has developed an autonomous, water-free cleaning bot for rooftop solar installations. The bot weighs 5 kg (with battery) and can be operated remotely through a web-based app. It uses an air wash technology to clean the panels, ensuring no need for water or any harmful chemicals.

Even as solar researchers strive to squeeze every drop of efficiency from the industry-ruling silicon solar-cell technology, scientists are constantly questing for the next, cheaper, more efficient way of harvesting the sun’s energy to power human endeavours. The appetite for accelerating 2D perovskite solar cell development has just been piqued!

The solar fence has an output of 400 W per fence section. It is built with heterojunction or n-type PERT bifacial cells developed by the German start-up and relies on its vertical mounting technology for bifacial photovoltaic panels.

The cell was built with a phosphorus-doped n-type Czochralski (Cz) silicon wafer with a resistivity of 1.09Ωcm and a thickness of 170mm. Ti/Au/Ag metal stacks were used for the contact with the hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) layers.

Slovenian solar module manufacturer Bisol has developed a white panel with a power output of 190 W. The product is claimed to be an ideal solution for seamlessly blending with large surface buildings and maintaining their historic character.

According to a new study from the LUT University, hybrid wind-solar plants offer the ideal profile to reduce the costs of green ammonia. Although natural gas will be able to provide lower prices over this and the next decade, beyond 2040 ammonia generated by wind and solar may reach a price of between €300 and €330 per ton.