Solar Technology & PV R&D News

Today's commonly used silicon solar cells are heavy and bulky, and take up a lot of space to produce power. Newer models, made from soft materials that are flexible and versatile, are cheaper to produce but also much less efficient than their pricier counterparts.

Scientists from Penn State University have developed a self-heating battery for electric vehicles which is said charge in only 10 minutes at 60 degrees Celsius.

A Malaysian study has compared the techniques used to reduce total harmonic distortion caused by PV systems. The paper, which considers the benefits and drawbacks of the approaches studied, suggests the use of adaptive filters.

North Carolina researchers have developed a brand new perovskite solar cell method.

A group of Korean researchers, headed by Prof Soojin Park, has created foldable batts with thin 3D organic electrodes.

Digital imagery with laser lighting has been utilized to quantify a solar cell's performance for a while through a procedure called light beam induced current (LBIC) mapping. But, because of the serial nature of image processing, it has not been easy to do fast. Danish start-up InfinityPV states it has used a method which can expedite the LBIC rate by over 10 million times.

UNIST researchers have discovered how to let light through photovoltaic panels. They have made dense micro-holes in a cell, which makes it seen as fully transparent and suitable for window application.

A scientific group from two U.S.-based universities has discovered how to transfer the energy between the molecules of silicon and organic material. So far, this phenomenon was only theoretical. The discovery has vast prospects for medical, solar power, and quantum computing applications.

A group of researchers from Rice University of Texas have found out that introducing antisite defects into lithium iron phosphate lattice makes the roads for lithium ion broader.

The Australian state of Tasmania has approached international investors to present its unique potential for the production of hydrogen from renewable sources, as it aims to position itself at the forefront of the nation’s green hydrogen push.

PSS, which focuses on selling service and performance instead of products, is usually seen as a means to realize a circular economy, in which economic activity is decoupled from resource consumption and waste is minimized.

Ada, an AI-driven robot, searches for new solar cell designs at the University of British Columbia.

Energy Materials Corporation reports that the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office has chosen EMC to progress perovskite photovoltaic module development and research.

NREL has released a paper showing an experimental solar cell, using a unique method for wiring two different solar cells to a single, that raised the cell's efficiency by 4 percent. As well the document provides a respectable review of different technologies being developed.

Swinburne PhD candidate Suneeti Purohit's remarkable double innovation utilises solar power to decarbonise the steel industry and save iron ore miners cash.