Technology and R&D

Dutch floating structure specialist Solarduck has built a pilot 65 kW floating PV array that will be connected to a 10 kW electrolyzer to produce hydrogen bonded with a liquid organic hydrogen carrier. The system is relying on the company’s proprietary floating technology that resembles an offshore oil platform.

New research from the United States has shown the numerous advantages of combining lamb grazing with solar power production. The researchers found, in particular, that the overall return from grazing was the same in both solar pastures and open pasture fields with no PV panels.

Developed by Swedish scientists, the proposed algorithm is said to calculate a project’s ideal design by combining climatological data with figures on expected solar power generation, shading distribution, water for irrigation, and agricultural yield. Its creators spoke with pv magazine about the key parameters that the model seeks to determine, one of which is the optimal distance between the solar module rows depending on the kind of crop.

Two projects in California will fill part of the 1,600 MW of long-duration energy storage that state regulators have said is needed by 2026.

The 2021 edition of the International Technology Roadmap for Photovoltaics (ITRPV) was published today by German engineering association VDMA. The report, which forecasts technology trends across the solar industry, expects PERC to maintain its position as the dominant cell technology and notes that large wafer formats are here to stay.

Scientists in the United States have fabricated a solar cell using antimony selenide films with favorable crystalline properties. They achieved the remarkable conversion efficiency for this early-stage PV material by focusing on the selenization temperature.

We Drive Solar and Hyundai are planning to set up a network of 500 bi-directional EV recharging stations in the city and region of Utrecht. Through this technology, electric cars may contribute to the storage of renewable energy in a country affected by grid constraints.

The “graphene revolution” is almost here. Australian scientists specializing in aluminum-ion batteries are now working with Brisbane-based Graphene Manufacturing Group to commercialize a technology that could transform energy storage.

Scientists in the UK used the latest imaging techniques to visualize and understand the process of dendrite formation and electrolyte cracking in an all solid-state battery. With new insight into the mechanisms by which these cracks form and ultimately lead to battery failure, the results could help direct the focus of future research into solid-state battery technology.

Austrian heat and PV specialist my-PV is proposing a new solution to use surplus PV electricity for thermal concrete-core activation in commercial buildings.