Research

Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers have developed a battery with two electrodes made of aluminum and sulfur, and a molten salt electrolyte placed between them. They said the sulfur electrodes with a high loading of 12.0 mg cm2 can sustain a high capacity of 520 mAh g–1 over 100 cycles at 5 C.

Researchers built and deployed a nine perovskite solar panel array that showed little generation loss due to high temperatures, and performed better over time than researchers expected.

Project Nexus expects to break ground in fall 2022 and reach completion by the end of 2023.

The two will study the scaling and integration of fuel cell systems for stationary power generation.

LevelTen Energy, a renewables transaction infrastructure company, has launched a new platform to simplify and accelerate power purchase agreement market analysis. The new platform, MarketPulse, provides 24/7 access to PPA price data, renewable energy project data, and analytics.

Including real-time pricing of retail electricity in the design of a high-renewables system would “markedly” lower the system’s cost, researchers found, in an analysis for the island of Oahu, Hawaii. For continent-scale systems as well, they said the resulting demand-side flexibility is likely substantial.

Researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the United States have developed a special class of materials for bulky calcium ions, providing pathways for their facile insertion into battery electrodes.

State-level policy has fueled the growth, and pending legislation for community solar programs in five states could add another 1.2 GW, according to Wood Mackenzie

Also on the rise: New home battery can provide backup power as well as smart time of use charging/discharging. Connecticut to allow distributed resources to compete with distribution grid upgrades. And more.

According to the National Solar Jobs Census 2020, employment in the solar industry looked favorable in 2021 compared to fossil fuel industries, but solar employers have some work to do on increasing diversity.