Technology and R&D

A study has highlighted that the two growth phases of solar panel manufacturing – after the 2008 global downturn and again after 2011 – coincided with higher prices for the precious metal.

The PV solutions division of DuPont Electronics and Imaging has revealed plans to work with the Fraunhofer ISE on optimizing testing protocols for crystalline silicon solar modules.

Solar could meet approximately 68% of global energy demand with other renewables making up the rest, according to a new report. A 100% renewable energy system could also create 22 million solar jobs by 2050, the study claims. Keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees C, though, would require FITs for projects up to 40 MW in capacity, auctions for bigger systems, removing fossil fuel and nuclear subsidies and providing more education and R&D and less red tape.

The innovation is said to be able to produce 250 liters of hydrogen per day and can convert sunlight and water vapor from the air directly into hydrogen gas with an efficiency of 15%.

The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and Adelaide-based laser supplier Lastek are developing equipment and procedures to accurately measure the performance of multi-junction solar cells with the help of an LED-based solar simulator.

A 10,000-liters-per-day plant in Tamil Nadu offers hope for powering clean water without fossil fuels. However, researchers warn the technology is difficult to scale up because PV panels take up so much space.

The result was certified by the solar cells laboratory at the calibration and test center of Germany’s Institute for Solar Energy Research. Imec’s measurements showed cell bifaciality surpassed 80%.

With competition on the module market as cutthroat as ever, manufacturers are increasingly looking to emphasize the quality and reliability of their products and services as a differentiator. pv magazine investigates what’s behind some of these claims, and the move from manufacturers to more sophisticated quality assurance methods.

Celebrating its one year anniversary during Solarex, Turkish monitoring and AI startup Solarify is looking to reduce false alarms from utility scale PV projects. Based out of an incubator in Ege University in the coastal city of Izmir, Solarify is on the hunt for international partners.

Messe Düsseldorf has partnered with pv magazine for a special publication for Energy Storage Europe 2019. As part of the project, we tasked an independent jury of experts to rank a range of Energy Storage Highlights that were exhibited at the event. During the show, our editors caught up with the top five entries to get a bit of an insight.