Algae could boost solar panel efficiency by 4%
A Swedish team has inaugurated a pilot facility to mass produce algae material that can potentially boost silicon solar module efficiency by 4% and thin film by 36%. The algae are added to the encapsulant in silicon-based modules or to the anti-reflective coating on the glass of thin film modules. The team estimates the resulting modules would be 3.9% cheaper.
Solar tiles connected to an air heat pump
Germany’s Paxos is currently testing the solar tile in a testing facility connected to an air heat pump. The panel can provide heat and electricity at the same time, while also improving the heat pump’s coefficient of performance by around 25%.
Quinone flow battery for grid-scale renewables storage now close to commercial viability
Startup Quino Energy has raised more than $7.8 million to scale up its quinone redox flow battery technology. Harvard University and University of Cambridge researchers came up with the initial research for the battery design.
Sunrise brief: Secret solar stories revealed in new solar podcast
Also on the rise: Recent advances in fast EV charging. DC rooftop PV providing domestic hot water to residential building at 140 F.
DC rooftop PV providing domestic hot water to residential building at 140 F
Domestic hot water, with a heating system powered exclusively by DC solar power, has now covered the needs of an apartment building in Linz, Austria, for a period of a year. The 14 residential units are each connected to their own 1.36 KW solar arrays.
Meyer Burger secures $255.2 million to scale up production capacity to 3 GW
Swiss PV manufacturer Meyer Burger says it wants to rapidly expand its production of heterojunction solar cells and modules, following its recent supply agreement with U.S. project developer DE Shaw Renewable Investments.
Solliance hits 30.1% efficiency on perovskite/silicon tandem solar cell
The Solliance consortium achieved a 29.2% record efficiency for the solar cell in November 2021, from just 28.7% in March 2020. In recent months, it increased the perovskite cell for the tandem device from 17.8% to 19.7%.
Model to assess microclimates in vertical agrivoltaic systems
Swedish researchers have developed a model to analyze the microclimate parameters of a vertically mounted agrivoltaic system. They validated their model by comparing its estimations with measurements of solar irradiance, PV module temperature, and ground temperature.
A case for residential solar sharing
Technische Universität München researchers have run a series of tests to investigate the growing share of rooftop PV in Germany. They found that the sale and purchase of electricity between households could reduce consumption peaks and prevent grid bottlenecks.
Grid experts call for a national initiative to facilitate a high-DER grid
To reach the full potential benefits of distributed energy resources (DERs), a national initiative is needed to transition efficiently to a high-DER electricity system, says a task force of grid experts convened by the nonprofit group ESIG.
