science

An international group of scientists has used bulk passivation and surface passivation techniques to implement terbium doping in an all-inorganic perovskite solar cell, while using quantum dots to improve the stability of the perovskite itself.

Sharp’s new 375 W solar panels feature multi-wire technology, with a power conversion efficiency of 20.4%.

Ireland has given the green light to install a 700 MW, high-voltage direct current submarine power cable between its southern coast and the northwestern coast of France.

The cell stability was improved with the addition of ferrocene at the perovskite/spiro-OMeTAD interface. It was able to retain around 70% of its initial efficiency after 1,250 hours.

Scientists in Japan have developed new processes for CIGS solar cell manufacturing, entirely eliminating the use of cadmium and replacing a waste-intensive wet chemical stage. With a thin film deposited on a flexible steel substrate, the group achieved 16.7% efficiency, which it says is a record for a cell of this type produced using scalable fabrication processes.

Scientists in the UK and Japan used the latest imaging techniques to observe the inner workings of a perovskite solar cell at the scale of a few nanometers. Their findings suggest that a single defect is responsible for both limiting initial performance and causing degradation of the cell. By altering chemical compositions and process parameters, the appearance of this defect can be quickly reduced, and the group is confident that its finding could quickly be applied in large-scale processing as well.

Green Gravity, a startup proposing to use old mine shafts for gravitational energy storage, has secured AUD 1.4 million ($990,000) in its first formal capital raise.

JA Solar said that the smallest solar panel in its new n-type product line has a power output of 435 W and a power conversion efficiency of 22.3%. The largest module in the series has an efficiency rating of 22.4% and 625 W of nominal power. Their temperature coefficient is -0.30% per degree Celsius.

Automaker Geely has commissioned a new polysilicon factory in northern China, while ET Solar has opened a new 5 GW wafer factory in Vietnam. Poly giant GCL Technology, meanwhile, has confirmed that its board might issue common stock for a Chinese listing.

In other news, Shinshu University researchers developed a graphene-wrapped molecular-sieving membrane that is reportedly 100 times more efficient than that of conventional polymer separation membranes. Topsoe aalso nnounced the construction of the “world’s largest electrolyzer production facility,” and Toho Gas said it would produce blue hydrogen in Japan for local consumption.