Google lends a hand in the search for new solar cell designs with open-source tool
Scientists in the United States developed a computer simulator that can calculate the conversion efficiency of different solar cell materials and configurations – helping to guide research and optimization of new cell designs. The simulator is available to researchers as an open-source tool to save time and spot the best opportunities for optimization of any given approach.
Plan for solar module gigafactory unveiled in France
An industrial area of the southern region of Occitanie has been identified for the construction of a 2 GW factory. The local development agency is currently seeking potential investors.
Flexible metal dichalcogenide solar cell with 5.1% efficiency
Stanford scientists have fabricated a transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) solar cell that is claimed to overcome the typical issue of this kind of PV device, the so-called Fermi-level pinning. They used graphene contacts to mitigate this phenomenon and achieved a record power per weight of 4.4 W/g.
US bank to lend $500 million for First Solar’s 3 GW fab in India
The U.S. International Development Finance Corp. has offered debt financing to support a 3 GW module manufacturing facility that thin-film PV manufacturer First Solar plans to build in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Deploying solar on curved metal roofs
Midsummer and Medacciai are developing a BIPV solution for curved metal roofs in southern European markets, through a five-year deal.
RTE Energy plans PV module factory for Australia
Australia’s solar PV panel manufacturing capacity is set to get a major boost, as Melbourne-based RTE Energy has confirmed that it plans to set up a large-scale heterojunction module factory in the state of Queensland.
Chinese PV Industry Brief: Shuangliang secures three more wafer deals, Petro China’s 4.5 GW module deal
Shuangliang has secured supply agreements from Xinchao PV, Canadia Solar and SF Solar. Petro China wants modules for 4.5 GW of solar projects across 24 provinces.
Ultra-thin silicon layers for 22.2%-efficient heterojunction solar cell
Scientists in the Netherlands fabricated a heterojunction solar cell with a layer of hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon just three nanometers thick. The cell’s efficiency was measured at 22.2%, below the highest achieved with HJT cells, however, the researchers note that successfully incorporating this material into the cell stack will open many new doors for improvement.
KAUST achieves 28.2% efficiency for perovskite/silicon tandem solar cell
Saudi Arabian scientists have developed a perovskite sub-cell of a tandem device with a molecule that prevents the migration of ions into the perovskite film, even under humid conditions. The solar cell has an efficiency of 28.6%.
Antimony selenide solar cell with 8.5% efficiency
U.S. scientists have fabricated a cell via a two-step closed space sublimation process and by applying a seed layer to a soda-lime glass substrate coated with molybdenum via rapid thermal evaporation. They claim this facilitated the growth of a high-quality Sb2Se3 absorber layer with high crystallinity and large columnar grains.
