REC: “Our future is in HJT”
While many solar manufacturers are as yet undecided about which PV cell technology they will choose for their next high efficiency expansions, for Singapore-based REC, the future is HJT. pv magazine spoke to Cemil Seber, the managing director at REC Solar EMEA GmbH at the Intersolar Europe 2022 trade show, to dig deeper into these manufacturing plans.
Tunable solar cells with customized design capabilities
German scientists have reviewed all solar cell technologies with tuning capabilities and have identified all of their possible applications.
Solar beehive in South Korea
Hanwha Group has marked World Bee Day by unveiling the country’s first solar beehive. The PV modules on the beehive generate electricity to automatically monitor and control internal conditions.
Austria launches second round of solar-storage rebate program
The Austrian authorities allocated €40 million ($42.8 million) in the next round of the nation’s solar-plus-storage rebate scheme, across 11,000 projects. Rebates are available for PV installations up to 10 kW in size.
France deployed 484 MW of PV in Q1
France’s cumulative installed PV capacity reached 14.6 GW at the end of March.
India installed 456 MW of rooftop solar in Q1
India’s rooftop solar installations increased by 34% year on year in the January-March period, despite a 17% increase in system costs.
Semitransparent dye-sensitized solar module for BIPV applications
Scientists in Italy have developed a module with an area of 0.2 sm and an efficiency of 2.7% in outdoor conditions, with a tilt angle of 60 C. They designed it by considering the trade-off between low losses and device sturdiness.
Germany deployed 553 MW of solar in April
Germany’s new solar additions for April included 517 MW under the country’s incentive scheme and 35 MW of unsubsidized installations.
Trina Solar’s pathway to TOPCon
Trina Solar will eventually start selling TOPCon and heterojunction products, even though it built its first large-scale TOPCon project four years ago. The company says it is now making progress on TOPCon module production, despite supply chain issues.
Agrivoltaics for rice growers
East-West Power has switched on three 100 kW agrivoltaic arrays at rice plantations in South Korea. It placed the solar modules at a height of 4 meters to enable the passage of heavy machinery.
