Research

South Korean researchers have developed a heat trading system including a ground-source heat pump, solar thermal collectors, a fuel-cell system, and two heat storage tanks for district heating at hours of peak solar production.

Tractebel, DEME, and Jan De Nul will deploy a pilot offshore floating PV facility off the Belgian coast in the summer. The Seavolt floating platform is reportedly able to withstand difficult offshore conditions.

Brazilian scientists have calculated the potential for floating solar generation in Brazil. The results show an installed potential of 43 GW for all of Brazil, with the state of Minas Gerais leading with 6 GW, followed by Bahia with 4.59 GW, and Sao Paulo with 3.87 GW.

Scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), have used an antioxidant known as L-glutathione as an interlayer in an organic PV cell to prevent other materials from oxidizing. The cell has an efficiency of 13.5% and an average visible transmittance of 21.5%. The researchers said it is suitable for applications in solar greenhouses.

Technique Solaire plans to analyze animal behavior in outdoor poultry farms covered with solar panels linked by nets. The setup could be potentially beneficial for the birds and the quality of their meat.

Fraunhofer ISE has presented the results of retrofit heat pump installations in multi-family homes in Germany. One demonstrator featured rooftop solar PV and a multi-source heat pump developed in partnership with Viessmann. It uses air and geothermal as heat sources.

Scientists from Germany’s Fraunhofer ISE and US panel maker Solaria have applied thermal laser separation and post-metallization passivated edge technology to tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) cell production. They have developed shingle PV devices that are more efficient than cells built with conventional laser scribing and mechanical cleaving methods.

Researchers have looked at whether Germany can substitute more gas with renewables-powered heat pumps or renewable electricity to reduce load hours at gas-fired power plants. They argue that heat pumps are the fastest way to cut German gas consumption.

Scientists in the Netherlands have proposed the extension of the IEC 61853 standard to bifacial solar modules, with some key corrections. In particular, they recommend changing the third and fourth parts of the standard.

Researchers at the University of Hong Kong have discovered a series of anionic network solid electrolytes that can deliver at least a fourfold improvement in cationic transport for lithium-metal battery applications.