Technology and R&D

Tristan Erion-Lorico, VP sales and marketing at Kiwa PVEL, spoke with pv magazine Editor Marian Willuhn at Intersolar Europe 2025 about rising module failures in lab tests this year, citing glass breakage and UV degradation in tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) modules as key quality concerns.

Tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) modules continued to dominate the PV market at The smarter E Europe 2025, but pv magazine Magazine Director Mark Hutchins and CRU Group Senior Research Analyst Molly Morgan found emerging cell and module concepts gaining ground on the show floor.

Germany’s Singulus Technologies will provide three of its physical vapor deposition (PVD) vacuum sputtering systems to Poland-based module manufacturer Roltec at a new plant that will produce copper, indium, gallium, and selenium (CIGS) cells on glass substrates.

A national procurement round for energy storage systems, planned in the second half of the year, is at risk of lengthy delay just as the grid operator is being forced to curtail large volumes of excess clean electricity.

Researchers from the Middle East have simulated a novel PV thermal module which includes a thermoelectric generator above the absorber layer, conical helical tape in the cooling tube and a ferrofluid. These technologies reportedly contributed to increased PV efficiency and thermal efficiency by 2.12% and 23.34%, respectively.

Researchers at the Delft University of Technology have developed new cerium-doped indium oxides for applications in heterojunction solar cells. A transparent conductive oxide built with the new compound has enabled a considerable increase in power conversion efficiency.

Italy’s Ecoprogetti has developed an automated photovoltaic recycling line that separates and recovers up to 100% of the aluminum, copper, glass, plastic and silicon in solar panels. It can process up to 60 panels per hour while using 40% less energy than other solutions on the market.

Western Australian manufacturer Magellan Power has unveiled a new all-in-one residential energy storage system offering battery capacities from 9.6 kWh to 25 kWh and inverter capacities from 5 kW to 15 kW.

The Sunbox Industry product, aimed at the commercial and industrial (C&I) segment, offers a modular, scalable, and intelligent solution, according to the manufacturer. It can be scaled from 100 kW/172 kWh to 3 MW/15 MWh.

Bluetti has now launched the Apex 300 portable power station, bringing a new scalable power solutions for home backup, travel, and off-grid living.