The week in perovskites
As a focus of research at leading institutes the world over, new developments in the perovskite field come thick and fast almost every week. From x-ray observations on a nanoscale to financing and plans for mass production, pv magazine is bringing together some of the most exciting developments of recent weeks.
Covid-19 pandemic puts 150 GW of PV, wind at risk in Asia
Up to 150 GW of PV and wind projects could be postponed or canceled throughout the Asia-Pacific region by 2024 if the coronavirus-triggered recession continues beyond the current year, according to new research by Wood Mackenzie.
Covid-19 daily bulletin: Italian PV developers do their bit for the nation
Solar project owners responded to an appeal to donate a portion of their solar incentive payments to the public health authorities as another multinational body emphasized the importance of coronavirus fiscal stimulus packages having environmentally-friendly conditions attached.
Renewables and geopolitics: Who will ‘win’ the energy transition?
The losers in a world which no longer runs on fossil fuels are obvious but the dividend from shrugging off hydrocarbon dependency will be spread around most of the world so it is the nations which are winning the cleantech manufacturing and intellectual property race which appear best positioned for the future.
Toshiba bags contract for 147 MW project in Japan
The electronics brand said the project will be its largest engineering, procurement and construction order for a solar plant. Facilities on such a scale are rare in Japan because of land constraints.
An organic solar cell with 25% efficiency
The ‘best conversion performance in the world in a dark room’ is how the developers of a new organic PV device have described it. Such cells could be used as a wireless source of energy for internet of things applications or in gadgets such as temperature-humidity and motion sensors.
Solar-powered hydrogen production in Japan
Toshiba has finalized construction of a 10 MW hydrogen plant in Fukushima prefecture which draws power from 20 MW of solar generation capacity as well as the grid.
Solar-powered trees for cool spots in urban hot spots
A Japanese consortium has started producing solar-powered ‘urban furniture’. The result is a solar-plus-battery bench with cooling elements and vaporizers.
Producing hydrogen with rust and sunlight
Researchers at the Tokyo University of Science have found goethite, a common type of rust, can be used as a catalyst to speed up solar-powered hydrogen production. The group says further optimization could enable their process to eliminate the need for the costly, rare catalysts currently used.
Trade shows postponed over coronavirus fears
As the contagion continues to spread, its impact is beginning to be felt on the solar industry outside China with the cancellation or postponement of major trade shows and conferences that were set to take place over the next few weeks.
