Asia

The new compressor is described as the world’s most powerful single-unit compressed air energy storage (CAES) system, with a maximum discharge pressure of 10.1 MPa and an efficiency of 88.1%.

pv magazine spoke with Fan Bin, founder of GCL Optoelectronics, about how high-throughput experimentation and AI-driven optimization are accelerating perovskite development, and why stability, and not efficiency, remains the key challenge on the path to mass production

Rising silver prices are putting pressure on solar manufacturers, prompting greater focus on copper and other alternatives to reduce costs. Heraeus says it expects silver demand from photovoltaics to decline this year despite stable global installations.

An international research team has reviewed emerging solid-state and gas-cycle heat pumps capable of reaching temperatures of up to 1,600 K, assessing their challenges, applications, scalability, and technology readiness levels. The researchers say these systems could outperform conventional high-temperature heating technologies by achieving coefficients of performance above 1.

By embedding quality benchmarks into procurement and manufacturing incentives, policymakers are ensuring that India’s energy transition is durable, not disposable. The focus has moved from rapid installation to long-term reliability — a sign of sectoral maturity.

The China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association (CNMIA) says wafer, cell and module prices remain stable, while industry operating rates are edging lower across leading and integrated manufacturers.

Risen Energy says its new 131 kW/261 kWh commercial storage unit uses silicon carbide and full liquid cooling to improve efficiency, maintain output in hot conditions, and speed up installation.

Japanese researchers used supercomputer simulations to reveal how sodium ions form clusters and move within hard carbon anodes, identifying nanopore sizes and transition regions that control diffusion and rate performance in sodium-ion batteries. Their findings offer design guidelines for optimizing hard-carbon anodes to improve energy density, cycling, and commercialization prospects.

The world of batteries needs alternative chemistries to skirt weaknesses with lithium-ion. Sodium-ion is a big hope, and in portable power, Bluetti’s new product shows promise, and limitations.

High-resistivity silicon wafers offer superior efficiency potential but are highly sensitive to edge recombination and mechanical damage, limiting their commercial use compared to more robust standard wafers. Researchers from Longi and Sun Yat-sen University demonstrated that integrating in-situ edge passivation unlocks this potential, significantly boosting back-contact solar cell fill factor and efficiency.