Technology and R&D

A recent study shows that PV costs have declined faster than any other energy technology over the past two decades. The researcher behind the study said this would not have been possible without the “butterfly effect,” which is based on the idea that a small change in one part of a complex system can have a large impact elsewhere. The researcher also attributed the the rapidly declining cost of PV to Chinese manufacturing and strong US investor support.

A research group in Okinawa, Japan has been able to observe and characterize structural defects in an organic-inorganic perovskite solar cell. Their findings could help to inform future approaches to optimizing and improving perovskite stability.

A new paper published by the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory delves into the potential of hybrid power plants combining wind and solar generation. Development of such plants, according to the lab, is driven by the need to increase profitability and consider metrics beyond levelized cost of electricity, taking into account time varying revenues and better managing these renewables inherent variability.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a transparent coating they successfully incorporated into a perovskite solar cell, increasing efficiency and stability. The group says with further improvements the material could be used as a simpler, less expensive alternative to widely used indium tin oxide as a transparent conductive material for a range of applications.

The political statements issued by the Conservatives, Labour, the Lib Dems and even the Green Party almost entirely ignore solar power amid a welter of vague ambitions ahead of the December vote. The increasingly obvious effects of climate change have clearly entered the consciousness of voters, though – the net zero commitment even got as high as page 55 of the Conservatives’ 62-page document.

The 23.22% front-side efficiency of the 244.62 sq cm device – certified by Germany’s ISFH CalTeC – is another landmark for the Chinese manufacturer’s State Key Laboratory of Photovoltaic Science and Technology.

An international research group achieved the result on a 9 sq mm, triple-cation based, n-i-p structured perovskite cell using low solar concentration levels. Device instability, however, remains a challenge.

Scientists at the University of Houston in the United States have developed a new catalyst which they say can efficiently produce hydrogen from seawater. The group says that its discovery significantly advances the development of seawater electrolysis for large-scale hydrogen production.

The Chinese thin-film manufacturer has achieved 25.11% efficiency with a full size silicon heterojunction cell, beating its own record. The efficiency record has been confirmed by Germany’s Institute for Solar Energy Research Hamelin.

A research group at the Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin has conducted an in depth analysis looking at the crystalline structure of methylammonium lead iodide, one of the most promising perovskite materials for solar cell production. The group made a series of discoveries which they hope will help to unlock some of the remaining issues in creating cells that are both stable and highly efficient.