Technology and R&D

The Australian research team which developed the device said the higher efficiency was achieved through a nanowire design which eliminates the interface inside the titanium dioxide band.

Saudi researchers have developed a cell which is said to exhibit improved structural and optoelectronic properties as well as enhanced carrier mobility and diffusion lengths. The feat was achieved by reducing voltage losses using a new passivation technique.

An international group of scientists has developed a comprehensive method to track the microscopic processes at work in lithium batteries. Employing a ‘virtual unrolling’ model developed for ancient manuscripts too sensitive to be opened, the group peeked inside the layers of a commercial battery to gain a better understanding of the processes at work and the degradation mechanisms affecting them. Their findings, the group says, could provide a benchmark for battery characterization.

Panellists including a government representative and a member of the chief policy thinktank used by Narendra Modi agreed coal will continue as the staple source of Indian power into the mid century and technology should be employed to ‘clean’ it.

Spanish researchers have unveiled a monolithic nano-structured perovskite silicon tandem device they claim can reduce optical losses by more than a third compared to planar perovskite cells of the same kind.

pv magazine has spoken to José Antonio Unanue, director of the battery energy storage system business at Ingeteam, the equipment integrator and manufacturer of the first grid-connected battery storage system in Spain, which electric utility Iberdrola launched in Caravaca de la Cruz, Murcia, at the end of November.

Researchers from three Japanese universities have developed a process based on inkjet printing they say could reduce the cost of perovskite solar cell production. The group fabricated small cells with efficiencies as high as 13.19%, a figure they claim is promising enough to offer the possibility of scaling up to commercial production.

Researchers have integrated A3B5 semiconductors on a silicon substrate in a prototype solar cell and claim the technique could enable the production of III-V solar cells with conversion efficiencies of around 40%.

With electric vehicles making up only 3% of the global car market last year, analyst WoodMac says battery packs need to be cheaper and lighter and range anxiety must be addressed to change the habits of drivers.

Semi-transparent organic solar cells can reduce the carbon footprint and raise the crop yield of greenhouses while acting as generators and insulation. Scientists in the U.S. say greenhouses equipped with organic cells could be energy self-sufficient year round in hot and moderate-humidity climates.