Solar Power International begins with a bang
With a monster hurricane in Florida and a trade case looming over the solar industry, there’s never been a more interesting time to be in solar
Scientists look into insect eyes for new solar cell design
Mimicking a compound eye of a fly, Stanford University scientists have packed tiny perovskite cells into a hexagon-shaped epoxy resin scaffold, improving the material’s durability when exposed to moisture, heat and mechanical stress in a breakthrough that may open the door to the awaited improvement in perovskite’s operational stability.
Solar and nukes
Can high levels of solar and wind coexist with nuclear generation on the grid? The answer is more complicated than you might think.
Addressing solar’s growing pains with data standards & analytics
In this op-ed for pv magazine, kWh Analytics Software Engineer Paul Young previews his SPI presentation and explores the increasing importance of solar data standards and analytics.
Future PV: The feasibility of solar-powered hydrogen production
There is a solid business case to combine PV plants with electrolyzers, as generation costs are low enough to competitively produce hydrogen as a fuel, says Bjørn Simonsen of NEL Hydrogen. He will speak at pv magazine’s Future PV event at SPI in Las Vegas.
Perovskite has changed its status to single (cell)
In another breakthrough for the material so many solar advocates hope will replace traditional silicon in module production, a group of scientists in China and the United States have produced the first monocrystalline perovskite cell, which could accelerate its acceptance as a silicon replacement.
NREL, Swiss researchers break 35% cell efficiency
A collaborative project between the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratories and researchers from two Swiss centers has tested a range of multi junction cells in tandem configuration, and achieved efficiencies of up to 35.9%.
Inside the DOE grid study – an interview with Mark Dyson of RMI
Mark Dyson, a manager at Rocky Mountain Institute’s electricity practice, has some things to say about what the DOE grid study released last night got right – and what it got wrong.
DOE grid study less politicized than expected
While the final version of the Energy Department’s overdue study on the electricity system is more restrained that many of the Trump Administration’s talking points, it still relies on outdated assumptions about the U.S. power system.
Audi & Alta Devices to develop solar for cars
The gallium arsenide PV maker will collaborate with Audi on thin-film solar research, with plans to exhibit a PV-integrated Audi prototype vehicle by the end of this year.
