Emiliano Bellini
Best fire safety practices for rooftop PV system installations
Compiled by an international research group, the best practices were collected from all available guidelines published by national agencies, regulatory bodies, and trade associations.
Yaskawa Solectria Solar unveils string inverter series for utility scale projects
The US manufacturer said the device has an efficiency of 99.0% and a California Energy Commission (CEC) efficiency of 98.5%. It has a size of 750x1125x390 mm and weighs in at 131.5 kg.
Solar-powered hydrogen for domestic applications via building-integrated transparent platform
An international research group has created a closed-loop, transparent energy platform based on PV power generation and hydrogen production from photo-electrochemical cells. The system is claimed to supply power without interruption and to be transparent enough to be integrated into buildings.
Toshiba claims 8.4% efficiency for transparent cuprous oxide solar cell
The record efficiency was achieved by engineering the cell with reduced copper(II) oxide (CuO) and copper (Cu) impurities in the thin-film deposition. It showed an open-circuit voltage of 1.13 V, a short-circuit current of 10.63 mA/cm2, and a fill factor of 0.696.
Aerospace manufacturer Rocket Lab takes over space solar cell maker Solaero
Rocket Lab has acquired space solar cell maker Solaero for $80 million. The latter operates an 11,000m2 manufacturing facility in New Mexico and produces multi-junction cells with efficiencies ranging from 29.4% to 32%.
Icephobic surfaces for ice, snow shedding in utility scale solar
Developed by U.S. researchers, the proposed coating solution is claimed to effectively melt ice and snow with temperatures of up to -35 degrees Celsius. It was fabricated by using medium-chain triglyceride oil to plasticize two common industrial polymer polyvinyl chlorides and tested at a pilot facility in Alaska.
Residential solar paired with heat pumps outperforms propane in cold, isolated climates
A U.S.-Swedish research group has investigated the complex economic relationship between PV and heat pumps in cold climates under four different levels of electrification. It found that, compared to propane, solar heat pumps can reduce reduce costs by up to 20% and carbon emissions by 30%.
Color-tunable transparent silicon solar cell with 7.38% efficiency
Designed for BIPV applications by scientists in Korea, the solar cell is based on a 100μm-thick n-type silicon wafer and has a bending radius of 3-6mm.
Center notches 29.80% efficiency for perovskite/silicon tandem solar cell
The solar cell is based on a nanotextured front side and a back side with a dielectric reflector.
Novel solar cell architecture to reduce silver costs, improve voltage
Developed by a U.S.-based start-up, the new manufacturing process is claimed to reduce silver consumption and improve solar module performance by up to 3 W. It consists of connecting sub-cells in series within a single cell in order to increase the device voltage and without requiring cells to be physically broken and rewired.
