Japan

The European Commission has published its second annual assessment of the competitiveness of the EU’s renewable energy technology industries, and it had a warning for policymakers about the trade balance trend being experienced by heat pump makers.

The Japanese manufacturer decided to close its CIS module production in October and has now launched its first 250 W monocrystalline product for the residential market.

The latest edition of a clean power jobs survey produced by IRENA and the International Labour Organization has stressed the important role which will need to be played by the public sector if the energy transition’s employment benefits are to be shared equally.

The 4cm² cell showed a remarkable open-circuit voltage of 754 mV. It was fabricated with a hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) layer, which is said to show lower parasitic absorption and higher external quantum efficiency.

A report from Australia’s Future Battery Industries Cooperative Research Centre which analysed the development of battery hubs in the U.S., Germany and Japan, has found that co-location and cooperation between industry and government were key to their success. For Australia to play the same game, it will have to leverage its wealth of resources, and clean up its act along the way.

The Vietnamese solar manufacturer presented its new half-cut monocrystalline PERC PV module at last week’s Intersolar Europe. It features an efficiency of 21.38% efficiency and maximum power output of 605 W.

The system has dimensions of 834×417×1,766 mm and weighs 205 kg including the design panel. It achieves an electrical efficiency of 56% and can be connected with a hot water storage unit.

Storing hydrogen in carbon nanotubes and other nanostructures is still far from reaching commercial maturity. A Japanese research team, however, has developed a new simulation technology that may help better estimate the energy needed to favor the ideal interaction between hydrogen and its storage material.

The IEC/EN61215 and IEC/EN61730-certified panel features 144 half-cells based on M10 wafers and a 10-busbar design. Its operating temperature coefficient is -0.341% per degree Celsius and its power tolerance reaches up to 5%.

Scientists in Japan delved deep into the crystalline structure of a perovskite solar cell in order to understand how chlorine helps to improve the cells’ stability. By varying the concentration of chlorine in the material they were able to find an optimal level for increased stability, and open new doors on the way to understanding the specific role of chlorine and the mechanism behind the improvement.