Sunrise brief: Maxeon solar modules detained at border
Also on the rise: U.S. clean energy installations grow 91% year-over-year in Q2. Flexible interconnection at far lower cost and nearly twice the speed. And more.
Flexible interconnection at far lower cost and nearly twice the speed
Substantial cost and time savings are possible with flexible “connect and manage” interconnection of utility-scale solar and solar-plus-storage projects, two studies have found.
Assessing viability of agrivoltaics in corn fields
Researchers from Purdue University have studied the impact of traditional photovoltaic systems and agrivoltaics deployed in corn croplands. They conclude agrivoltaics could offer a viable strategy to ease the current tradeoff between energy production, greenhouse gas emissions, food production and farm profitability.
U.S. DOE announces $125 million to fund two Energy Innovation Hubs
The U.S. Department of Energy will provide $125 million in funding for two Energy Innovation Hub teams to accelerate energy storage technologies. The research focus will be energy storage for both transport and stationary storage applications.
Deep learning tech detects snow coverage on PV systems, calculates energy loss
Conceived by researchers in Canada, the novel method combines image processing and deep learning techniques to locate the areas of the solar panels covered with snow. It reportedly performed better than three other popular image processing-based segmentation methods.
Sunrise brief: Accelerating electrification through rate design
Also on the rise: California hits new milestone with EV chargers. Survey finds consumers overwhelmingly support renewables over fossil fuels. And more.
Grid Strategies and The Brattle Group propose “urgent” interconnection fixes
The interconnection reforms proposed include a fast-track process for some projects, a “connect and manage” option, grid-enhancing technologies, advanced conductors, automating interconnection studies and speeding transmission construction.
New coating prevents plant growth on underwater solar cells
The US Navy has funded Danish research on preventing biofouling while maintaining visible light transmission on underwater solar cells. The top solution uses ultra-low concentrations of nano-sized, seawater-soluble pigments. Power generation stayed close to 100% after 13 weeks underwater.
New process to recover silver from end-of-life solar cells achieves 98% efficiency
Scientists have used hydrometallurgical and electrochemical processes to recover pure silver from solar cells. The proposed technique also utilizes a method known as electrodeposition-redox replacement, which reportedly increases the silver recovery rate.
Automating solar PV perovskite material discovery
U.S. researchers have applied robotics and automation to perovskite material discovery for use in tandem perovskite solar cell technologies. The robotic platform is multifunctional, able to mix precursors, perform spin coating, annealing and characterization of the optoelectronic thin films.
