Renewables

German research institute Fraunhofer ISE has unveiled a new metallization process for heterojunction solar cells that reportedly increases power conversion efficiencies by over 0.1% while reducing silver consumption. A device built with the new technique achieved an efficiency of 23.2%.

Conceived by scientists in China, the device consists of a Fresnel lens, a PV cell, and liquid ionic thermocells (iTECs) with electrolyte flow. In can reportedly outperform CPV systems built with thermoelectric generators, both in terms of costs and efficiency.

Microsoft has signed on for 10.5 GW of renewable energy with Brookfield Renewable Partners. The projects might cost more than $11.5 billion to build, according to BloombergNEF.

Researchers in Spain has found that combining PV power generation with fuel cells and battery storage may help homes considerably reduce their levelized cost of energy. Their simulation reportedly demonstrated homes may also become completely self-sufficient.

The European Hydrogen Bank’s pilot auction is delivering €720 million ($768.3 million) to seven renewable hydrogen projects in Finland, Norway, Portugal and Spain. Together, they plan to produce 1.58 million tons of renewable hydrogen over a period of 10 years.

The German authorities have granted 2.23 GW in a utility-scale solar tender, with bids ranging from €0.0362 ($0.039)/kWh to €0.0549/kWh, oversubscribed to 4.1 GW.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) says a new 100 MW solar project in Bangladesh will be the country’s first private sector utility-scale PV facility to secure ADB support.

Taiwanese manufacturer Winaico says its new 430 W glass-glass tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) modules have a power conversion efficiency of 22.02%.

Scientists led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have designed a new PV-powered desalination system based on the time-variant electrodialysis reversal (EDR) technology. The proposed system reportedly achieves lower levelized cost of water than conventional solar-powered desalination techs.

Arctech says it plans to open a 3 GW tracker factory in Saudi Arabia. The tracker manufacturer says the facility in Jeddah will be designed to reach up to 10 GW of capacity.