science

Sax Power has developed a new residential battery which it describes as a game-changer in the battery technology.

Kent Kernahan has set out to take the heat out of solar cells. He and his partners may end up bringing solar manufacturing jobs to disadvantaged communities, while making low-cost rooftop solar more widely available.

Scientists in Switzerland discovered that certain types of phosphate salt react with lead only in the presence of moisture, to form non-water-soluble phosphates. Incorporating these salts into the architecture of a lead-based perovskite solar cell could greatly reduce the risk of lead seeping into the environment should the cells be damaged, without incurring significant costs or negatively affecting the cell’s performance.

The cell was used to build two perovskite solar modules with a size of 5x5cm and 10x10cm, respectively, and with efficiencies of 15.62% and 11.80%.

The 50 kW modular PV system started operating at the end of November 2019. According to its developer, Dutch start-up Oceans of Energy, power production after 18 months of operations is in line with expectations. The installation had to withstand several storms and waves with a height of up to 10 meters.

Scientists in the U.S. used sophisticated computer modelling techniques to recreate the microscopic structures of a perovskite solar cell, revealing new information about defects within the materials that could greatly improved performance.

Scientists in Malaysia have used, for the first time, nanocomposite films based on zinc oxide and polyvinyl alcohol in organic solar cells. These films were able to improve the efficiencies of the PV devices by up to 3.5%.

According to a Swedish-Austrian group of scientists, the combined use of heat pumps and rooftop PV generation may be boosted in Europe by replacing current subsidies with a carbon tax policy. Their analysis showed that the profitability of this combination is strictly dependent on gas prices, and that a slight increase in gas prices would be crucial to sustain strong development.

Researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have developed a revolutionary lithium-metal battery chemistry that could allow electric vehicle batteries to almost double their capacity, while also overcoming historic setbacks.

According to a new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, hydrogen-fired gas plants will compete with lithium-ion storage for seasonal storage and their competitiveness will strictly depend on the heat rate of the gas power plants they may replace.