Western Europe

Led by German research institute Fraunhofer ISE, the consortium has built the solar cells with 100% crystalline silicon recycled from end-of-life photovoltaic panels. The silicon is recycled through a technique conceived by German specialist Reiling GmbH & Co. KG and the Fraunhofer Center for Silicon Photovoltaics CSP.

A robot dog developed by Boston Dynamics monitors a solar park by walking between the panel rows following a programmed route. It uses its built-in thermal vision system to generate thermographic reports on the status of the different PV plant components.

Mercedes-Benz has teamed up with ProLogium to integrate solid-state battery technology into a range of vehicles; Panasonic and Toyota launched an industrial-academic collaborative research program concerned with battery resources and recycling; and LG Energy Solution plans to spend $2.1 billion with GM to build another EV battery plant in the US.

The use of phosphorene nanoribbons boosted the cell, putting it on par with traditional silicon cell output levels.

Volta designs chargers with integrated advertising space and targets high-visibility commercial spaces.

Maxeon exec Mark Babcock joined pv magazine to talk about Maxeon’s Air solar panels, and the company’s possible U.S. manufacturing expansion.

The solar cell is based on a nanotextured front side and a back side with a dielectric reflector.

Research finds that the energy yield of a novel approach could almost double that of standard shingled cell interconnection under random shading conditions.

Subject to regulatory approval, the electrical wholesale distributor will purchase the PV equipment distributor.

Developed by Italian dry bottom ash handling system provider Magaldi Power, the system produces green thermal energy — steam or hot air — which can be used directly in industrial plants or for the generation of electricity using steam turbines.