Research & Development

The performance of crystalline silicon – widely considered a reliable solar module construction – declines amid rising temperatures of rooftop modules, according to studies performed by TÜV Rheinland PTL, LLC.  

An etching technique that makes silicon wafers more efficient and a “mammoth power generator that sets a new standard for the production of solar energy” – both developed at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory – have been named among this year’s most significant innovations by Research & Development (R&D) Magazine.

The Solar Impulse HB-SIA plane took off from the Payerne airbase in Switzerland today in preparation for its first night flight. It is hoped the energy collected today and stored in its batteries will last until the next sunrise.

The Dichtel group has said it has developed a method to organize organic dyes into stacked sheets that are porous for incorporation into flexible solar cells. The process, it says, could revolutionize the way solar cells are made by lowering costs dramatically, while creating highly efficient and easy-to-manufacture solar cells.

Spire Corporation has been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as the recipient of a Small Business Innovation Research grant to develop a light emitting diode (LED) based solar simulator.

The Clean Energy Programme Office (CEPO) has awarded research grants totaling around SGD$13 million (USD$9.4 million; €7.5 million) to five research teams under the third grant call of the Clean Energy Research Programme (CERP).

Research into improving the lifetime of plastic solar cells is underway following an agreement between the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and Solarmer Energy, Inc.

A new incentive regime is due to be set up in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to encourage the growth of solar electricity.

Work to install one of the city’s first major solar farms on the roof of a University of Sheffield building has begun in what is part of a £120,000 investment into boosting photovoltaics (PV) research.??

Thin film solar module developer Ascent Solar Technologies has been selected by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to work on its Low-Cost Lightweight Portable Photovoltaics (PoP) program.