Technology and R&D

Researchers from Germany’s Technical University of Munich (TUM) have discovered key processes by which lithium ion batteries lose capacity. The scientists believe that battery life can be enhanced through adjusting the process by which lithium ion batteries form a pacifying layer on graphite anodes or by carrying out modifications on the cathode surface.

UCLA researchers have developed a metal oxide sandwich perovskite cell that enhances the stability of the promising semiconductor by more than 10 times. The approach uses two metal oxide layers on either side of the perovskite material, protecting it rapid degradation when exposed to air.

Hunter Valley in Australia’s New South Wales is set to see its first new town in 50 years. The aim is to have the 20,000 strong residential development powered by a 100% renewable microgrid. AU$1.1 million is being invested in the initial investigation.

A research team from the Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and Ècole Polytechnique Fédérale (EPF) has developed a method to produce perovskite-heterojunction crystalline silicon tandem solar cells. Having produced an 18% efficiency cell with the technique, the researchers say with light trapping wafer texturing efficiencies as high as 25 to 30% could be achieved in the future.

Switzerland PECVD equipment startup will supply one of its Octopus II systems to a U.S.-based research group. It is the fifth Octopus system INDEOtec has supplied to laboratories globally.

The New Jersey-based research university won big for designing, building and operating the most cost-effective, energy-efficient and attractive solar powered house. Other winners included UC Davis and Mass/Central America.

In a study, researchers identified that 143 GW of solar PV could be installed, restriction-free, on just 0.9% of Germany’s landmass. Another 150 GW would be possible on rooftops. In this case, however, it will depend on how solar thermal will be expanded, and how many owners will invest.

Company claims new solar module prototype sets new world record for module-level efficiency based on mass-production technology. New HIT N330 high-powered module set to debut in U.K.

German researchers have applied the approach used by invisibility cloak research to direct sunlight around busbars and metallization fingers to potentially increase PV cell and module efficiency. The research was carried out by a team of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and could potentially increase cell efficiency by 10%.

Calling it the “world’s most efficient rooftop solar panel”, the company says it will produce PV modules with greater than 22% efficiency at a pilot facility.