Chinese PV Industry Brief: Longi, Zhonghuan raise wafer prices
A Chinese industry group has reported rising polysilicon prices and supply chain problems ahead, but GCL Technology said this week that strong polysilicon and wafer prices were the reason its business performed strongly in 2021.
The Hydrogen Stream: High-pressure PEMEL electrolyzers for lower hydrogen costs
Elsewhere, Lotte Chemical and Air Liquid Korea will establish a joint venture to build a hydrogen supply chain in South Korea and the US Department’s Loan Programs Office (LPO) offered a conditional commitment for a US$504.4M loan guarantee to the Advanced Clean Energy Storage Project in Utah, which combines alkaline electrolysis with salt cavern storage for grid scale energy conversion and storage using hydrogen as the energy carrier.
Cyprus launches PV, battery funding scheme as Greece turns to gas
Cyprus has launched a new scheme to fund installations of PV arrays and battery systems, with a specific focus on owners of electric vehicles. Greece, meanwhile, has devised a subsidy scheme to support the use of gas for conventional cars.
EPFL achieves 29.2% efficiency for tandem solar cell with fully textured silicon
Scientists in Switzerland made significant progress with an approach to perovskite-silicon tandem cell design that they say could eventually be integrated into existing silicon PV manufacturing. They have announced the achievement of a 29.2% cell efficiency – not far from the overall record for tandem cells, and verified by Germany’s Fraunhofer ISE.
The mobility rEVolution: Portable EV charging stations for personal and shared use
In other news, BYD’s quarterly profit is up by 241% buoyed by demand for battery-powered cars, Ford takes a US$3.1 billion loss on its Rivian stake and cuts 580 jobs as part of corporate restructuring, and ABB agrees to provide its full portfolio of EV charging technology to Shell.
Meyer Burger to increase module, cell capacity in Germany
Swiss PV module manufacturer Meyer Burger has decided to achieve its capacity expansion targets by focusing on its German factories, in reaction to ongoing global logistics problems and supply chain issues.
New PV water heater from Germany
German startup Nexol has developed a photovoltaic water heating system that relies on a smart controller, with either DC and AC power. It decides autonomously if grid electricity or PV is used, with the latter always preferred.
OCI secures $1.2 billion polysilicon order from Hanwha Solutions
OCI will supply polysilicon from its manufacturing facility in Malaysia, which is expected to have an annual capacity of 35,000 metric tons by the end of June.
Energy Vault, NTPC sign deal for gravity-based energy storage
Switzerland’s Energy Vault will support Indian state-run power producer NTPC by deploying its gravity-based energy storage technology and software solutions.
Techno-economic analysis of renewables-driven power-to-X processes
Researchers at the University of Genoa have conducted a techno-economic analysis to assess green hydrogen produced via water electrolysis and its conversion into three alternative fuels – methane, methanol, and ammonia. They looked into efficiency, storage capacity, annual costs, and production costs of the different fuels, which they found to be significantly higher than market reference values.
