Chinese PV Industry Brief: BASF, Oriental Yuhong to develop rooftop PV membranes
BASF and China’s Oriental Yuhong have developed thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) roofing membranes for rooftop solar PV applications, while GCL New Energy has sold 558 MW of operational solar capacity.
Using agrivoltaics on 1% of EU farmland could lead to 944 GW installed capacity, JRC says
If 157,621 hectares of utilized agricultural area in the European Union incorporated agrivoltaics, it could produce up to 944 GW installed capacity, a new study published by the Joint Research Centre found. Despite the optimism, certain challenges – such as no clear definition and dedicated standards – stand in the way of the technology’s success.
New hail test to assess impact of large, high-velocity ice balls on solar panels
A research group in Switzerland has enhanced the hail test stand to measure the impact of ice balls with larger diameters and higher speed on solar panels. The new testing approach will reportedly enable solar panel makers to assess their products with adequate safety margins.
Solar sector corporate financing up 55% so far this year, Mercom says
Despite inflationary challenges and elevated interest rates, financing in the solar industry has remained robust with corporate financing sitting at $28.9 billion – a 55% hike from last year’s $18.7 billion, a new report by Mercom Capital Group states.
Solar wafer prices hit record lows
In a new weekly update for pv magazine, OPIS, a Dow Jones company, provides a quick look at the main price trends in the global PV industry.
France’s CEA developing tech to recover silicon, silver from end-of-life PV panels
The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) has developed a recycling process for end-of-life PV modules, recovering silicon and silver, using supercritical CO2. Virginie Basini, head of CEA’s sustainable technologies department, discussed the technique with pv magazine France.
Bismuth ferrite, tungsten trioxide thin films for PV cells
Researchers recently identified the optimal laser energy for crafting BFO/WO3 bilayer thin films for solar cells at 200 millijoules (mJ), by carefully considering factors such as leakage and band gap.
Japan’s NPC Incorporated expands PV production equipment capacity
Tokyo-based PV equipment manufacturing company NPC Incorporated will foster future capacity expansion due to equipment demand from an undisclosed North American solar manufacturer.
Combination of half-cut, bifacial solar cell designs may contribute to hotspot formation
Scientists in Spain tested PV modules under partial shading conditions, aiming to better understand the formation of performance-damaging hotspots. The study reveals a potential issue particularly affecting half-cell and bifacial modules, which may cause accelerated performance loss and is not covered by current testing/certification standards.
Bifacial perovskite solar cells for indoor applications achieve 30.3% efficiency
Scientists in India have fabricated indoor bifacial perovskite solar cells that purportedly achieve remarkable power output per single cell. The devices also reached a bifaciality factor of 0.73.
