LNG, solar collectors improve round-trip efficiency of LAES systems
Scientists simulated several liquid air energy storage systems, comparing round-trip efficiency across configurations that include liquefied natural gas (LNG), solar, and Stirling engines, and further optimized performance using particle swarm methods.
Novel MPPT method combines APO, model-predictive control
An international research team has tested a hybrid control technique combining adapted perturb and observe (APO) with model-predictive control to address complex partial shading in solar arrays. The method, validated through simulation and physical experiments, reportedly outperforms existing approaches.
Impact of hydrogen on silicon solar cell degradation
German researchers have reviewed recent studies on hydrogen-related degradation in silicon solar cells. They said the work is timely, with n-type silicon dominating production and antimony-doping emerging.
‘Soft-connected’ floating PV for offshore scenarios
An international research team has tested a floating PV system with a “soft-connected” configuration under offshore conditions, using six modular pontoons linked by elastic bar elements to simulate mooring lines and connection ropes.
Passive solar module cooling tech based on atmospheric water harvesting
Researchers in India have developed a cooling technology that uses calcium chloride for atmospheric water harvesting. The system reportedly improves PV module yields by up to 18%.
PV module fault diagnosis uses convolutional neural network
Researchers in China have created a dataset of various PV faults and normalized it to accommodate different array sizes and typologies. After testing the new approach in combination with the 1D-CNN machine learning technique under different conditions, they found an accuracy of more than 99%.
Cooling PV inverters with skived fin heat sink
Researchers in Turkey tested a novel heat sink design to cool insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) arrays in solar inverters. They found that it reduced module temperatures by more than 6 C in lab experiments.
PV-powered liquid air system yields hydrogen, heating, fresh water
A global scientific team has designed a novel multigeneration system based on renewable energy and liquid air energy storage, then used soft computing techniques to optimize its operation. The optimized levelized costs of hydrogen (LCoH) were $1.52/kg and $5.22/m³.
Surplus PV for electric delivery vehicles
Scientists in Japan have developed a model that predicts surplus PV generation and creates a route for optimized charging of electric delivery vehicles. They defined their work as a “practical blueprint for logistics operators.”
Map shows 43% of Iran’s land unsuitable for PV-powered water pumps
Scientists used geographic information systems and analytical hierarchy process methods to identify Iran’s most suitable areas for PV water pumping systems. They found 43.2% of land unsuitable, with Ardabil province the most favorable.
