Technology

European solar lobby groups have mostly welcomed the European Parliament’s recently supported EU Net-Zero Industry Act, which is aimed at strengthening the region’s renewables manufacturing sector. However, two groups are divided over a clause in the Act that limits tendered project’s from using technology partially made outside Europe.

A Swiss company has developed adhesive film that can be applied on solar panels to make them more aesthetically appealing. The film reduces electricity production by between 10% and 30%, but income from advertising could offset such losses.

Danish researchers investigated how solar-powered Carnot batteries could be integrated into decommissioned coal power plants to produce clean energy. They found that a 300 MW retrofitted plant coal plant with 1.37 GWh of thermal storage capacity has the potential for annual net power production of up to 1,150 GWh for 12 h storage at a levelized cost of energy of €88.09 ($95.97)/MWh.

A group of scientists in the United States has utilized a new passivation strategy based on sulfur-modified methylthio molecules to build an inverted perovskite solar cell with a certified efficiency of 25.1% and remarkable stability. The proposed passivation approach reportedly led to a five-fold increase in carrier lifetime and a three-fold reduction in photoluminescence quantum yield losses.

Inion Software, a Lithuanian PV power plant equipment specialist, has unveiled a platform that combines model-based performance forecasting with plant monitoring functionality. It offers insights based not only on production data, but also weather data, along with site parameters and PV capacity information.

Scientists in India have developed a novel way to predict soiling accumulation on bifacial modules. Their approach considers dust deposition, rebound, and resuspension phenomena.

Research firm EUPD Research says that the European Union’s (EU) solar PV module excess inventory reached 47.2 GW in 2022 and may hit 40 GW in 2023. In a new report provided to pv magazine, the company forecasts the EU may install 60 GW of new PV capacity this year with Chinese solar module imports hitting about 100 GW.

From the International Solar Energy Society’s perspective, and the vision of a world with 100% renewable energy for everyone used wisely and efficiently, PV module production should not become an oligopoly and should not be concentrated in one corner of the world.

An international research group has utilized a new porosification technique to build gallium arsenide (GaAs) solar cells that allow the recovery of germanium films. The new cell achieved an efficiency that is reportedly in line with that of other GaAs PV devices, but can be produced at a lower cost thanks to the reuse of germanium.

Modular PV array manufacturer 5B is deploying its preassembled, relocatable modular solar tech in a solar and battery energy storage project on Bathurst Island, Australia.