World

China’s Huasun launched a new line of five heterojunction (HJT) solar modules in 2022, with power outputs ranging from 680 W to 700 W. The company has now added a new 715 W module to the series, with an efficiency rating of 23.02%.

Scientists in Morocco recently conducted a year-long study on the impacts of soiling on PV modules in arid, dusty conditions. They found that soiling could contribute to daily performance losses of as much as 15%.

Sakura Yamasaki, the founder and CEO of Singapore Solar Exchange, speaks to pv magazine about China’s recent decision to launch the trading of industrial silicon futures, following a year of high polysilicon prices. Yamasaki discusses the potential impact on polysilicon prices in China, the outlook for domestic price stabilization and risk mitigation, and what this might mean for the global solar industry in 2023. 

Bslbatt has released three new hybrid inverters with nominal power ratings of 3.6 kW, 4.6 kW, and 5 kW. The line also has an efficiency rating of 98.0% and a European efficiency of 97.0%.

With AI-enabled devices able to take the money-saving efficiency of lithium batteries to an incredibly granular level, research by Inion Software shows simple changes by inverter manufacturers would enable devices of almost any age to be “smartened up.”

China’s Hanersun has unveiled its HItouch 6N module series, which is based on n-type TOPCon tech, 210 mm wafers, and half-cut cells. The monofacial and bifacial modules feature power outputs ranging from 605 W to 695 W and efficiency ratings of 21.38% to 22.37%.

UK scientists have examined the impacts of potential-induced degradation (PID) in solar cells and modules, based on a field study from a 1.2 MW PV system in Spain. Meanwhile, in a separate study, scientists in Japan have created a model for one of the less-investigated PID mechanisms, creating a model of its progress that will be useful in future research and mitigation efforts.

Equium has developed a new thermo-acoustic heat pump core that reportedly produces 3 kW to 4 kW of heat for every kilowatt of power it consumes. It says the refrigerant-free device could generate domestic hot water at temperatures of up to 80 C.

Chinese scientists have developed a new way to split seawater into hydrogen without using a separate desalination process. They incorporated a self-breathable waterproof membrane and a self-dampening electrolyte (SDE) into the electrolyzer, so water migrates from the seawater across the membrane to the SDE, without extra energy consumption.

It was a good year for the inverter market. Strong demand was only stifled by supply chain limits, but new inverters are less innovative and show a slower evolution in improvements. Nevertheless, more versatile options are emerging in response to the energy crisis.