Solar Technology & PV R&D News

Japanese scientists develop dye-sensitized cell with 10.7% efficiency

The improved performance was achieved by using a methylene bridged material, the molecular dye DfZnP-iPr.

Aug 22, 2019 // Technology, Japan, Asia, Kyoto University, dye-sensitized solar cell

Traditional solar cookers concentrate sunlight on mirrored surfaces and convert it into heat. But this summer, Sunspot unveiled Sunspot Solar Electric Cooking, a new cooker based on PV technology. The system relies on two PV modules, a lead-carbon battery, an inverter, and an induction cooktop.

Aug 21, 2019 // Technology, USA, North America, Sunspot Solar Electric Cooking system, Elsevier, International Solar Energy Society, David Renne

Global warming will hit solar panel performance

MIT researchers say climate change could reduce the yield of solar modules. Analysis based on the warming scenarios outlined by the IPCC predicts in some areas the annual energy output of PV systems may fall by up to 50 kWh per kilowatt installed.

Aug 17, 2019 // Technology, USA, solar modules, Massachussetts Institute of Technology, warming

Exciting excitons

A research team from Columbia University has designed organic molecules that can produce excitons with a longer lifecycle than inorganic equivalents. The excitons have the potential to amplify the amount of electricity generated by the photons a solar cell absorbs.

Aug 16, 2019 // Technology, USA, PV panels, Columbia University, organic molecules, inorganic, Luis Campos

Nanowire mesh offers better cell performance and lower costs

A new method of creating an ordered mesh of nanowires, developed by scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the United States, could lead to the creation of more efficient transparent electrode layers in solar cells – and the elimination of a rare material from the manufacturing process.

Aug 16, 2019 // Technology, USA, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Anna Hiszpanski, Nanowire, Yong Han

A new spectroscopic method to understand the physical principles of organic PV

A German research team claims to have created a new visualization technique it says can enable detailed mapping of the energetic landscapes of organic PV cells on a nano scale. The technique could lead to organic cells with reduced power losses.

Aug 14, 2019 // Technology, Germany, spectroscopic method, organic PV, Heidelberg University, Yana Vaynzof

Competitive subsidy-free solar already a reality in China, study finds

Solar could be rolled out on buildings across all of China’s major urban centres at competitive prices without the need for subsidies, according to a new study published on Nature Energy.

Aug 14, 2019 // Technology, Solar, C&I, China, Asia, air pollution, grid parity, kth

‘New and strange properties’ provide a boost to energy storage

MIT scientists have developed a class of liquid electrolyte with properties they say could open up new possibilities for improving the performance and stability of lithium batteries and supercapacitors.

Aug 14, 2019 // Technology, Storage, storage, MIT, T. Alan Hatton, Xianwen Mao

Sandia Labs increases efforts at abusing lithium-ion batteries for safety research

According to a press release from Sandia National Laboratories, the testing lab now uses an indoor tower to drop 200-lb+ weights on lithium-ion batteries in efforts to learn more about how batteries respond to stress. This will be especially helpful in understanding how electric vehicle batteries may respond in an automobile accident.

Aug 13, 2019 // Technology, Storage, USA, Lithium-ion batteries, Sandia National Laboratories, Chris Grosso

Aquavoltaics in the Philippines

An EU funded solar-plus-storage project has been tendered in the Philippines. The United Nations is seeking bids for the system, to support the for the seaweed industry on the island of Tawi-Tawi. Combining PV with aquaculture brings many advantages for both, including water conservation, a more controlled aquatic environment, and ecosystem restoration.

Aug 13, 2019 // Technology, Markets & Finance News, Storage, Floating PV, USA, tender, floating PV, United Nations Industrial Development Organization, Philippines, RETS, MinDA, hybrid systems

Stitching together the grid of the future

A vision of a decentralized, renewable-powered electricity grid is being brought a step closer by scientists at the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Their project, Autonomous Energy Grids, aims to take an overarching look at the solutions that will power this grid of the future, and to fill any gaps that appear between them.

Aug 13, 2019 // Technology, USA, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Autonomous Energy Grids, Benjamin Kroposki

Using machine learning and cheap satellite data to design rooftop solar power

Researchers have built a tool to use cheap satellite imagery – like Google Maps – to automatically create solar designs with a 91% accuracy rate.

Aug 13, 2019 // Technology, rooftop, Google Maps, Clean Coalition, power grid maps, University of Massachusetts, LIDAR, Project Sunroof

US ROUND-UP: Gap diversifies; 125MW PPA in MI; Military-funded space solar; Solar bees

Global retail brand Gap moved one step closer to its goal of fully renewably-powered operations by 2030 after signing a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Enel Green Power North America. It has purchased 90MW of energy from the renewables giant's North Dakota wind project for a period of 12 years.

Aug 13, 2019 // Technology, Manufacturing News, Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Markets & Finance News, Solar, USA, SunPower, plants, Michigan, cleanchoice energy, solar bees, Antonio Cammisecra, air force, university of toledo, solar space, upper peninsula power company, power purchase agreement, orion renewable energy group, map energy, gap, North Dakota, enel green power, the chandler solar project, North America

Wuxi Suntech ranked seventh in BloombergNEF bankability survey

China-based PV module manufacturer, Wuxi Suntech Power Co has been ranked seventh highest in the latest Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BloombergNEF) ‘Solar Module & Inverter Bankability 2019’, report.

Aug 13, 2019 // Technology, Manufacturing News, China, pv modules, plants, longi solar, pv moduletech, investment, finance, Wuxi Suntech Power Co, He Shuangquan, PV-Tech

A close look at nature could lead to cheaper hydrogen

Scientists at the Australia National University have observed a key stage in the process of photosynthesis which could be copied to greatly increase the efficiency of sunlight-powered water splitting processes used to produce hydrogen.

Aug 12, 2019 // Technology, Solar to Fuel, USA, Germany, Australia, Europe, hydrogen, Switzerland, Oceania, Australia National University, sunlight-powered water, Max Planck Institute, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Maria Chrysina, North America, Solar to Fuel, Solar to Hydrogen, Producing Hydrogen, Hydrogen from renewable, Renewable fuels

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