Solar Technology & PV R&D News

The research group from the University of Houston has found a novel catalyst which is likely to help effectively split hydrogen from seawater. This innovation is supposed to considerably advance the seawater electrolysis development for commercial hydrogen production.

A group of scientists from UOW has created an advanced nanomaterial, which can be a perfect cathode for normal-temperature sodium-sulfur batts, bringing them closer to a targeted large-scale energy storage application.

Sweden-based solar maker Exeger is building a new factory to manufacture an advanced dye-sensitized material, which is supposed to allow solar-powered portable e-gadgets to operate infinitely with no need for battery recharge.

A team of German scientists from HZB has performed a thorough research of methylammonium lead iodide structure. The crystal is among the most high-potential perovskites for solar cells. The researchers have discovered some properties, which are likely to help cope with the existing challenges and create cells that can boast both high efficiency and stability.

The advanced technology developed by the startup funded by Bill Gates is aimed at minimization of gas emissions from heavy industries.

The research team from Austria has developed an innovative gravity-based energy storage plant suitable for low energy demand locations. The solution is compatible with different storage systems including renewables.

Chengdu R&D Center of Hanergy has established a new conversion efficiency record for silicon heterojunction cells.

A Dutch-Singaporean scientific team has invented a brand-new semiconductor material based on bulk perovskite. This novel material allows collecting hot carriers’ excessive energy. Theoretically, reaping hot carriers can double hybrid-perovskite photovoltaic cells efficiency.

The Carl Zeiss Foundation has invested €4.5m in the R&D project by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany. The KIT research team is going to invent whole new photovoltaic cells, which are supposed to provide all the benefits of organic, crystalline silicon and perovskite solar cells, such as printability, stability and ferroelectric properties.

An Egyptian scientist has discovered a new way to achieve optimal electricity generation by hybrid generators with the help of power point tracking. The newly created permanent magnetic synchronous generator for wind-solar is based on multi-input rectifier converters. It is supposed to get rid of harmonic currents with no need for additional input filtering.

The newly created photovoltaic cell is based on p-type transparent conductive film manufactured of carbon nanotubes. The innovation is announced to provide efficiency 16 per cent over the existing amorphous cells

Researchers at Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology have demonstrated a method they say could improve the stability of perovskite structures. The group found adding an organic dopant served to increase the strength of chemical bonds between organic and inorganic elements of a perovskite.

Scientists at Swedish Lund University are exploring the process due to which about a third of Fe-based solar cells’ energy is wasted. Identifying the way charge loss happens, they insist, is going to be the initial move toward solving the problem and creating high-efficiency photovoltaic cells of cheap and available material.

Scientists led by Moscow’s Skolkovo Institute of Technology have drawn upon several of their recent battery material innovations to create a potassium-ion device. The institute says its development will pave the way for ultrafast and durable, high capacity metal-ion batteries, to supply rising demand for energy storage innovations.

Research team from a few German institutes, together with South-China-based University of Technology, breaks a conversion efficiency record for organic photovoltaic modules. The 26 sq cm module consisting of 12 cells shows 12.6 per cent efficiency. The achievement is registered by Fraunhofer ISE.