solar concentrator

The research team’s semi-transparent solar concentrator can be directly coated onto standard window glass. It uses liquid crystal films to reflect and guide circularly-polarized sunlight to solar cells installed toward the edge of a window. A 1-inch diameter prototype was found capable of directly powering a 10 mW fan under sunlight.

A research group in Canada has optimized the performance of concentrator photovoltaics by using the so-called surface-mount technology for thermal management. The CPV module prototype utilizes four non-interconnected III-V germanium cells, a Fresnel lens, and a transparent glass printed-circuit board.

Researchers from Switzerland’s École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne have unveiled a new solar dish plant design, while Plug Power has delivered its first electrolyzer system to Europe.

Storage has long been expected to be the handmaiden of a renewable energy world and its long awaited advances started to finally emerge in the third quarter as researchers posited R&D achievements ranging from potentially potent tungsten disulfide nanotubes to the business case for 10-year solar panels.