United States

Details are sparse, but today the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Energy and Commerce is holding its first hearing towards coming up with a plan to fully decarbonize the U.S. economy by 2050.

A report by the U.S.-based Rocky Mountain Institute has modeled scenarios for the deregulation of electricity markets in China. The report finds the implementation of a spot market would drive increased integration of renewables and provide significant reductions in costs and emissions.

California based Hanergy subsidiary Miasolé has broken its own internal record for thin film cell efficiency, surpassing the 20% mark. The efficiency of 20.56% on a flexible substrate has been confirmed by U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Scientists from the University of Kansas say adding a layer of two-dimensional semiconductor molybdenum disulfide can greatly improve the performance of organic solar cells. The research could also inform efforts to engineer the interface between layers in hybrid organic cells.

North Carolina-based Duke Energy has completed a solicitation for 551 MW of solar power through its CPRE program, with average pricing between 3.79¢/kWh and 3.83¢/kWh and 20 year power contracts.

Scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara who are working with sodium-ion batteries have found that the unintended presence of hydrogen is to blame for many of the technology’s shortcomings in terms of degradation and performance loss. Keeping hydrogen out of the materials throughout production could allow sodium-ion batteries to achieve performance levels competing with their lithium-ion counterparts.

The startup formerly known as GE Solar has become a full fledged company, with GE and BlackRock announcing the creation of Distributed Solar Development, a behind-the-meter solar joint venture.

A new paper published by scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology examines the potential for integrating small solar cells into the wireless sensors needed to power the fast-growing internet of things (IoT) ecosystem, many of which are located indoors. This market could represent a unique opportunity for thin film PV technologies, and perovskites in particular, to reduce the risk inherent to ramping up commercial scale production.

The Anglo-American company is the latest utility to enter the utility-scale solar and wind development space by closing on its acquisition of Geronimo Energy.

Scientists at Pennsylvania State University have developed a new class of perovskite materials, which they say exhibits unique properties that could have several implications for the development of perovskite solar cells, as well as other electronic applications.