Research

Lawrence Berkeley researchers studied how solar buying decisions are influenced across varying income levels and offer rationale for policy changes and incentives to spur adoption among low- to middle-income households.

A research team has tested mini solar modules in marine data collection devices, using animal hosts for water column profile measurements. The findings suggest that submarine PV can effectively operate in these applications at depths of up to 22 meters.

The rapid growth in the generation capacity of solar systems and decreased manufacturing costs can be attributed to this finding.

Scientists in the Netherlands have sought to understand the reason for unexpected gains in vertical PV systems and found that these installations have a much higher heat transfer coefficient than their horizontally deployed counterparts.

The US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has identified a low-cost way to produce high-efficiency III-V solar cells with dynamic hydride vapor phase epitaxy (D-HVPE). The synthesis involved a gallium arsenide (GaAs) solar cell with a gallium indium arsenide phosphide emitter layer.

A Wood Mackenzie report forecasts that China will hold more than 80% of poly, wafer, cell and module manufacturing capacity for the next three years.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has updated its annual cost modeling tool in light of the Inflation Reduction Act, revealing increased labor costs for utility-scale solar projects and predominantly lower hardware costs due to new manufacturing tax credits.

Also on the rise: U.S. Airforce embraces e-mobility. Caribbean could become offshore floating solar PV giant. And more.

Protecting Future Farmland Act, new legislation introduced by Senators Grassley and Baldwin aims to pair land stewardship with responsible deployment of renewable energy on farmland.

A $1.8 million grant funds the research of co-locating farming and solar energy production.