Actionable insights to safeguard solar projects from hail damage
The second article in a two-part series from VDE Americas looks at hail risk mitigation measures that continue advancing through improved materials, prediction capabilities and refined stow strategies.
Boviet Solar manufacturing facility ready to ramp up in North Carolina
The company plans to manufacture both solar modules and cells in its Greenville facility, following a $294 million investment and the establishment its first North American production hub.
U.S. scientists building magnetocaloric heat pump with high system power density
Developed at the U. S. Ames National Laboratory, the novel magnetocaloric heat pump utilizes gadolinium as the working medium and reportedly matches current vapor-compression heat pumps for weight, cost, and performance. The system is based on a packed-particle bed active magnetic regenerator, a magnetic source composed of permanent magnets and high permeability magnetic steel.
Organic solar cells for space demonstrate radiation resistance, self-healing
Conventional silicon solar cells degrade rapidly in space, and gallium arsenide cells are heavy and inflexible. Research from the University of Michigan suggests carbon-based solar cells could be a good fit for space applications.
U.S.-made perovskite-silicon tandem solar modules could be produced at around $0.35/W
Techno-economic analysis conducted by NREL researchers has shown how perovskite-silicon tandem solar modules could currently hardly compete in cost with incumbent PV panels. Production costs for U.S.-made tandem products were found to range between $0.29/W and $0.42/W, with module efficiencies ranging from 25% to 30%.
Canadian scientists build micro III-V solar cells with record-breaking open circuit voltage
The proposed cell is based on indium gallium phosphide (InGaP), indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) and germanium (Ge) and has an active area of 0.25 mm2. It can be used for applications in micro-concentrator photovoltaics (CPV).
EnerVenue to supply nickel-hydrogen batteries to RWE for pilot testing
RWE plans to cycle EnerVenue’s nickel-hydrogen energy storage technology at its testing facility in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. RWE says it wants to boost its own storage capacity to 6 GW by 2030.
Mercedes-Benz testing new solar paint
Mercedes-Benz said it is now evaluating a 20%-efficient, non-silicon photovoltaic coating that is significantly cheaper than conventional solar modules.
Fraunhofer ISE warns of risk from higher than expected UV-induced degradation in TOPCon, PERC, HJT cells
The researchers of the German institute explained that UV-induced degradation may cause larger than expected efficiency and voltage losses in all dominant cell technologies, including TOPCon devices. The scientists expect that silicon nitride layers could be used to enhance TOPCon UV stability compared to PECVD layers typically utilized in PERC and heterojunction cells.
New sodium-ion developments from CATL, BYD, Huawei
Sodium-ion batteries are undergoing a critical period of commercialization with Chinese cleantech juggernauts actively working on their products.
