Technology and R&D

Michael van der Gugten, Sales and Marketing Executive at Smit Thermal Solutions, is convinced that perovskite solar cells have reached maturity, and that they are ready to make the step from the lab to production. He is leading the organization of a conference on this topic and expects that the perovskite community, production equipment suppliers and crystalline silicon cell manufacturers will discuss the implementation of perovskite-silicon tandem cells or the production of standalone perovskite modules.

Chinese thin film producer Hanergy has set a new record of 24.85% module efficiency for silicon heterojunction technology. The record was achieved at the company’s research & development center in Chengdu, China, and has been confirmed by the Institute for Solar Energy Research in Hamelin, Germany.

The British-German perovskite startup has ordered a turnkey 100 MW silicon heterojunction solar cell line from the Swiss PV equipment supplier. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The MNRE has invited proposals for high-efficiency perovskite solar cells, solar panel recycling, hybrid inverters and new applications that combine solar and storage, among others.

The researchers have developed a new manufacturing process by using an ultra-thin absorbing layer made of 205-nanometer-thick gallium arsenide (GaAs) and a nanostructured back mirror.

Railway operators can now feasibly connect solar plants to traction substations, claims a consortium that is now working on a similar demonstration project in the U.K. Almost all of the 30 kW installation’s output will be used to move trains, but in the future storage could come into the picture for larger “railway-connected” solar power projects, says 10:10, the U.K.-based climate change charity that developed the pilot.

According to a new report by BNP Paribas Asset Management, renewables offer more advantages than simply mitigating climate change. Electricity is easier to transport than oil, and wind and solar electricity prices are much more stable than volatile oil prices. An analyst from the French bank argues that major producers will need to reduce oil prices below $20 to compete with clean energy in the transport sector.

Scientists at the U.K.’s Faraday Institution have been able to observe degradation mechanisms at the lithium metal anode in a solid state battery, and made several discoveries which could improve the performance and design of future solid-state lithium-ion batteries.

The U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory reports further progress in bringing down the cost of III-V solar cells. Scientists have refined their ‘brand new, 50-year-old’ D-HVPE technology to speed up the production rate for gallium arsenide solar cells by a factor of more than 20. The development is a potential step toward making incredibly efficient solar cells cost effective for everyday purposes.

Scientists at Rice University in Texas have developed a device which converts heat into light by squeezing it into a smaller bandgap. The ‘hyperbolic thermal emitter’ could be combined with a PV system to convert energy otherwise wasted as heat – a development the researchers say could drastically increase efficiency.