Technology

As solar energy increases in the United States, the DOE is investing $14 million in studies on how the infrastructure affects wildlife and ecosystems.

A team of international researchers has simplified the deposition of thin film layers in the commercial production of TOPCon solar cells. Via a tube-type industrial plasma-assisted atomic layer deposition (PEALD) technique, they were able to achieve a power conversion efficiency of 22.8% in a 60-cell, 613 W TOPCon module.

Grid operator SPP is in discussions with Amazon Web Services about using AI to speed interconnection studies for utility-scale solar. A NextEra executive is bringing the idea to other grid operators.

The patented motionless wind harvesting system from Aeromine Technologies is currently being piloted by BASF Corporation.

Annual rooftop solar installations more than double when each homeowner’s long-term “profit” on a system increases from zero to $1,000, a study found. Based partly on that study, a Minnesota utility must now evaluate distributed solar incentives as a means to save all customers money.

In the hot summer months, thousands of residents with solar-plus-battery systems networked together to reduce peak energy costs and provide grid stability for ISO-New England’s customers.

Schneider Electric announced a project with the California Energy Commission to demonstrate the value of bidirectional EV charging.

Also on the rise: Recent advances in fast EV charging. DC rooftop PV providing domestic hot water to residential building at 140 F.

Domestic hot water, with a heating system powered exclusively by DC solar power, has now covered the needs of an apartment building in Linz, Austria, for a period of a year. The 14 residential units are each connected to their own 1.36 KW solar arrays.

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Labs and University of Tennessee have developed a novel fast-charging battery anode material. Plus news updates from GM, Volvo and Shoals Technologies.