Philadelphia Solar to build 1 GW module factory
Site negotiations are underway for the facility, which would produce monocrystalline facial and bifacial modules for C&I and utility-scale markets in the United States and abroad.
TSEC switches on new 500 MW solar cell production line
The new production line will enable the Taiwan-based manufacturer to produce larger and more powerful modules.
Supercomputer scientists dive deep into perovskites
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.
Nanocomposite films for 13.57%-efficient organic solar cell
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%.
Bringing the noise for better solar cell efficiency
An international team of scientists developed a technique to isolate individual sources of electrical ‘noise’ within a solar cell. Comparing the technique to being able to pick out a single voice within a 200-person choir, they say the technique will help to improve understanding of where efficiency losses occur within a cell, and effective ways to mitigate them.
Huasun achieves 25.26% efficiency for heterojunction solar cell
The result was confirmed by Germany’s Institute for Solar Energy Research in Hamelin.
Inverted perovskite solar cell with 22.1% efficiency via star-shaped polymer
The solar cell was fabricated with a special polymer that is able to passivate defects at the grain boundaries and interfacial surfaces, inhibit nonradiative recombination and charge-transport loss, and improve stabilities under moisture. The device exhibited a remarkable fill factor, of 0.862.
Conical-shaped solar panels cooled by forced airflow
A group of international scientists has compared the hypothetical performance of three novel shapes of solar modules – pyramidal, hexagonal and conical – and has found the latter has the strongest potential in terms of thermal behavior. According to their findings, a cooling technique based on forced airflow is key to making these solar module shapes into a feasible solution.
n-type perovskite tandem cell hits 27% efficiency
Scientists demonstrated a perovskite-silicon tandem cell that reached 27% conversion efficiency. Though higher tandem cell efficiencies have been achieved, this represents a big jump in efficiency for those utilizing n-i-p architecture, which previously had not surpassed 22%.
JinkoSolar claims 23.53% efficiency for n-type, TOPCon, monocrystalline panel
The PV module relies on Jinko’s TOPCon mono cell technology, for which a record efficiency of 25.25% was announced in late May. TÜV Rheinland has confirmed the result.
