Fraunhofer ISE

Research institute the Fraunhofer ISE has estimated the technical potential of floating PV at mining sites in Germany at around 56 GW. With floating projects 10-15% more costly than land-based alternatives, researchers have called for further incentives, such as the staging of ‘innovation tenders’.

Australian researchers have unveiled hydrogenation technology to reduce light and elevated temperature-induced degradation in Czochralski silicon PERC solar cells. The developers say the process can minimize degradation without sacrificing performance in cells and modules.

Scientists at the Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin have taken back the world efficiency record for a perovskite/silicon tandem solar cell, achieving 29.15% with a device measuring 1cm². The record has been confirmed by Fraunhofer ISE, and according to HZB, this means that the 30% efficiency mark is within reach.

Take-up has been slow considering the nation’s mammoth agricultural industry but, as a packed session on the topic at the recent Renewable Energy India show illustrated, attitudes may be changing in a nation which is already installing solar greenhouses.

Germany’s Fraunhofer ISE is presenting a wide range of solutions for integrated PV – alongside farming, vehicles, the built environment and more, at the 2019 EU PVSEC show happening this week in Marseille.

Fraunhofer ISE has worked with German technology companies to improve the metallization process in silicon solar cells. The result could drive down module costs quite a bit.

An increasing number of carmakers and research institutes are developing concepts that combine e-mobility and solar. Thus far, range additions from in-car panels of between 10 and 60km are the limit of innovation. The Fraunhofer roof is tinted with a color that hides the cells but lets through most of the light.

Scientists at Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems have broken two of their own records for cell efficiency, working with silicon and III-V material tandem cells. The institute hit 34.1% on a triple junction cell using wafer bonding technology and 24.3% by directly depositing III-V layers onto a silicon solar cell.

With the benefits solar panels can bring to cropland being considered in Europe, PV and aquaculture are working in tandem in Vietnam. Shrimp and fish farming requires land and lots of water but solar panels are helping mitigate those demands.

U.S. based Hanergy subsidiary Miasolé has achieved a record 17.44% conversion efficiency for a large area flexible CIGS module. The record has been confirmed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems.