Japan

A list compiled by a British price comparison website draws upon data from German company Statista which shows clean energy – including hydro – made up 12.74% of the nation’s power mix at the end of September.

The device has an area of 802cm² and thickness of 2mm. The manufacturer claims it improved module performance through an inkjet coating method and a reduction in weight by using thin glass substrates.

Japanese researchers are studying the ‘Chl f’ substance which features a pigment in photosynthesis which can absorb far-red light from the lower end of the spectrum.

The Japanese electronics giant has unveiled three monocrystalline half-cut cell modules said to provide 2-3% better performance than standard, full cell panels. The claimed efficiency of the modules exceeds 19.5% and Sharp says power output ranges from 330-395 W.

The research group that developed the cell said the two materials used to produce it, dubbed 2PACz and MeO-2PACz, will soon be commercially available. The material consists of 1-2nm of self-assembled monolayers deposited on the surface of the perovskite by dipping it into a diluted solution.

A joint venture with Japanese peers Toshiba and Denso will make the investment in the Gujarat plant over the 2021-25 period, having pumped $174 million into the first phase of development.

The Japanese electronics giant is offering a new cell architecture developed by battery start-up 24M, in the U.S., which significantly improves battery economics. Kyocera will be the first company to bring the technology to market.

Storage has long been expected to be the handmaiden of a renewable energy world and its long awaited advances started to finally emerge in the third quarter as researchers posited R&D achievements ranging from potentially potent tungsten disulfide nanotubes to the business case for 10-year solar panels.

Japanese utility Kansai Electric Power has extended a demonstration project with Australian P2P energy pioneer Power Ledger to track renewable energy certificates and trade PV-generated electricity.

Scientists have observed that the efficiency of an organic PV device decreases by around 50% when it is exposed to 100-h light irradiation. They attributed this loss to increased resistance of the organic semiconductor layer.