Blackstone enters the electric bus and van race, plus the return of seed-stage solar investing
A weekly round up of investments and exits in solar and energy transition technologies.
Swift Solar looks to reinvigorate and push the perovskite market forward
Born from an Oxford research group, the startup is looking to make its name by developing all-perovskite tandems, something no other company has done.
Launching a startup during an international pandemic
With the difficulties of launching a company exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, EnerVenue has been able to not only survive the challenges, but use them to the company’s advantage. pv magazine sat down with CEO Jorg Heinmann to discuss how the company leveraged risk into opportunity.
Analyzing the 2% DC voltage drop rule
The good people at Mayfield Renewables take us deep into the technical weeds as they question a rule-of-thumb: Is the 2% DC voltage drop rule accurate for real-world conductor sizing or has technological progress in solar made the rule irrelevant?
Can a 20-person startup with $25 million get Oklo’s fast-fission micro-reactor to market?
New generation of entrepreneurs aim to commercialize an advanced fission micro-reactor to compete against diesel gensets in remote and island communities. Technological and regulatory challenges abound.
North America’s first lithium-ion battery recycling hub is coming to New York
Li-Cycle, a Canadian battery recycling firm, has chosen Rochester as the home for its planned $175 million recycling facility, which promises to deliver recycled battery materials, beyond just lithium-ion, at market scale.
Nextracker inks 1 GW supply deal and claims up to 12% bifacial yield gain
The 1 GW fifth phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai will feature NX Horizon trackers with the deal announced after the manufacturer published new bifacial yield gain claims.
Plasma enables smaller, more powerful NMC-811 cathodes
Batteries could shrink even more with smaller crystals in the cathodes. Battery packs in electric vehicles and consumer goods could become smaller, while still offering high performance.
How long will the lithium supply last?
Researchers have sounded the alarm. If no serious efforts are made on second-life battery use, recycling and vehicle-to-grid applications, decarbonization efforts may hit the buffers a lot sooner than expected.
NREL projects up to 7.5 TW of global, hydro-linked floating PV potential
A study into the benefits of linking solar with hydro in a full hybrid system configuration has found global potential of 7,593 GW, for an estimated annual power generation of 10,616 TWh and a 20% reservoir coverage.
