Technology

The 7.66 MW of solar, 4 MWh batteries microgrid is the first fully resilient airport array that can function offgrid. The planned upgrade is part of a new JFK terminal said to be valued at $9.5 billion–what would be the largest global project financing transaction on record.

Also on the rise: 50 states of solar incentives–Illinois. Falling costs, 15 GW of US solar module production, and TOPCon trends. And more.

Antora Energy says its new 2 MW factory will make thermophotovoltaic cells for thermal storage applications. The cells are based on III-V semiconductors and reportedly have a heat-to-electricity conversion efficiency of more than 40%.

U.S.-based Salgenx has developed a scalable redox flow battery with two separate tanks of electrolytes, one of which is saltwater. Unlike other flow batteries, the new device is membrane-free, promising big gains at the levelized cost of storage level.

Agrivoltaic installations with vertically oriented solar panels are increasingly being adopted and studied across the globe.

A U.S. research team has developed a cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar cell through a lift-off method that reportedly ensures higher crystallinity of the cadmium sulfide film. The device has a power conversion efficiency of 12.60%, an open-circuit voltage of 0.829 V, a short-circuit current density of 23.64 mA/cm2, and a fill factor of 64.30%.

Canadian scientists have developed a new way to measure the energy yield of bifacial PV systems. They said they considered the spectral albedo of ground cover like snow and sand to predict energy gains of up to 2%, in comparison with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standard.

Also on the rise: Accelerating community solar in underrepresented communities. Soiling – a multibillion-dollar issue for the solar industry. And more.

After 3 GW of solar and storage projects have advanced, about 27 GW of solar and storage projects remain in New York’s interconnection queue. The grid operator also advanced 3 GW of wind projects and a 1.25 GW transmission line.

Huge growth in interconnection requests along with lengthy reviews and high project withdrawal rates motivated PJM to create a “first-ready, first-served” approach in 2022, Berkeley Lab notes.