Technology and R&D

Scientists have developed a way to compare the data given by PV manufacturers based on standard test conditions (STC) to the real conditions in the field. The proposed technique is based on the single-diode model and the Newton-Raphson algorithm. The maximum relative error was found to be at 1.37%.

Scientists have placed mist nozzles inside a bifacial PV module and measured it under an extremely hot climate. The module was found to generate up to 37% more electricity on sunny days and up to 46% more on cloudy days compared to standard monofacial panels.

The Chinese manufacturer said its new heat pump systems have a heating capacity of 4 kW to 16 kW and a coefficient of performance of up to 5.05.

An offshore solar farm is being deployed close to an existing wind farm as part of a project in the Dutch North Sea. The developers have recently installed an anchoring system that will hold the solar farm in place while an electrical cable connects the array to a nearby wind turbine foundation.

The European Commission has selected projects for €992 million ($1.1 billion) of EU public funding, while the Japanese government has agreed to provide $4.80 in subsidies for hydrogen fuel cell trucks.

Back contact cells, long seen by many as too complex or costly for mainstream PV manufacturing, are a growing industry trend in 2025. Mark Hutchins stopped by Aiko’s booth, where Claudio Godinho, Europe Service Director at Aiko, treated us to live demonstrations of how the company’s back contact PV modules perform under conditions including partial shading, high temperatures, and mechanical stress.

Join Cormac Gilligan, Associate Director of Clean Energy Technology at S&P Global Commodity Insights, and Marian Willuhn, Senior Editor, pv magazine, as they walk through the halls of The Smarter E Europe 2025 in Munich, exploring the latest trends in the power electronics field. In this video, Cormac shares insights from major inverter manufacturers, including Sungrow, Solis, GE Vernova, Solaredge, and Gamesa.

Japan-based startup PXP Corporation and JGC Japan Corporation, a unit of JGC Corporation, are collaborating on a 1 kW one-year project to trial lightweight chalcopyrite panels in Yokohama City.

Scientists in Turkiye claim to have developed a nickel-based TOPCon solar cell with a minimal silver content and almost the same efficiency as fully silver metallized counterparts. The device uses a new nickel contact method that requires a trace of silver of only 0.5 mg/W.

Swedish thin film solar specialist Midsummer announced the order of a SEK 143.5 million ($14.8 million) turnkey line with a capacity for 15 MW from an undisclosed Swedish industrial and defense group.