Asia

Conceived by scientists in China, the device combines an integrated carbon-based perovskite solar cell module with a rechargeable aqueous zinc metal cell. The proposed system achieved an overall efficiency of 6.4%, and a steady operation for more than 200 cycles with little performance degradation.

Norway’s Scatec – which has a 50% stake in Acme’s 900 MW solar project in Rajasthan, India – has put the planned installation on hold due to a lack of domestically produced solar panels and a 40% import duty on PV modules that will go into effect from April.

India’s Union Budget, presented this week by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, allocates an extra INR 19,500 crore ($2.6 billion) to the production-linked incentive scheme for solar from April.

The manufacturer said the 40/40 warranty is the longest and most comprehensive combined warranty offered in the photovoltaic industry to date. The product line is sold in most countries outside the United States and Canada under the SunPower Maxeon brand.

Chinese scientists used perovskitoids as 1D and 0D capping layer materials for the cell’s perovskite layer. These materials enabled an effective and all-around passivation of the perovskite surfaces and grain boundaries, which prevents undesired Shockley-Read-Hall recombination and material degradation. The device achieved a power conversion efficiency of 24.18%, an open-circuit voltage of 1.151 V, a short-circuit current of 25.96 mA/cm2, and fill factor of 80.91%. 

Researchers in Thailand have developed an anti-reflective and anti-soiling coating for commercial solar modules that is claimed to increase power yield by over 6%. The coating has photocatalytic properties that make the organic compounds adsorbed on the solar module surface decompose, thus preparing them to be easily washed off by rainwater.

The tendered capacity is expected to provide day-time power to agricultural consumers. The selected projects will range in size from 2 to 10 MW and will be awarded a 25-year power purchase agreement.

Scientists in Korea have developed an efficient synthesis route to produce a novel co-doped anode material for rechargeable seawater batteries. They developed a one-step plasma-in-liquid process to synthesize nitrogen and sulfur co-doped carbon-based anode material, which displayed great potential for seawater batteries.

Created by scientists in Korea, the shape-transformable 3D PV system is claimed to be able to increase electricity yield by 60% over a day compared to a fixed flat panel due to the shorter shadow length and the bifacial effect obtained during shape transformation. The proposed system doesn’t need any machinery to follow the sun and its developers said it would be a perfect solution for both urban and rural environments with limited space.

The Philippines’ Department of Energy hopes to allocate 1,260 MW of solar through the procurement exercise.