Photovoltaics for highways
The Austrian Institute of Technology, Fraunhofer ISE, and Forster Industrietechnik are developing a new rooftop PV system concept for motorways. They aim to harness the potential of underexploited road networks to generate electricity.
New dopants may improve PV glass performance
According to a British-Swedish research team, the down‐shifting process for solar glass manufacturing can be improved through the use of two dopant cations that produce no absorption bands. The doping with these compounds is said to reduce the UV transmission while also keeping the glass free from absorption in the visible and near-infrared ranges.
Test bench compares floating PV with onshore solar arrays
Moroccan researchers have set up a new floating PV test bench. They claim floating solar arrays offer better power yields than rooftop and ground-mounted PV systems, with lower module operating temperatures.
Exoskeletons for solar panel mounting
Endesa, the Spanish unit of Italian power group Enel, is using a new technology in the construction of three solar parks in southern Spain.
Enel and French PV institute achieved an efficiency of 25.0% for a heterojunction solar cell
The solar cell calibration laboratory ISFH CalTeC has certified the efficiency of the cell, which was made with a standard M2 wafer.
US startup to shake up battery market with metal hydrogen tech
EnerVenue launched with $12 million in seed funding, boasting advantages over lithium-ion in performance, price, operability in extreme weather, and decades of use in the aerospace industry.
New MPPT algorithm for bidirectional inverter design
A newly proposed inverter design relies on a solar charge controller featuring maximum power point tracking. It is based on an artificial fish-swarm algorithm, which offers high convergence speeds, flexibility, fault tolerance, and accuracy.
Wider wind-solar complementarity would mean less need for storage
A study from the Lappeenranta University of Technology states a deeper complementarity between solar and wind generation may favor renewables deployment reducing the need for stronger developments in storage technology. Combining solar with wind more widely could also reduce the need for ramping and improve the reliability of energy supply, say the researchers.
Simpliphi predicts cobalt-free battery takeover sooner than expected
pv magazine spoke with Catherine Von Burg, CEO of the Californian battery company, to discuss why she believes lithium-iron-phosphate is the chemistry of the near future.
Manufacturing process for mono cast solar cell exceeding 23% efficiency
Trina Solar has made a PV cell by directly applying the unmodified i-TOPCon process, originally developed for Cz mono wafers, to cast n-type quasi-mono silicon wafers. It claims the average efficiency, tested in-house with a calibrated reference cell, is 22.98%.
