Technology and R&D

Spain and Portugal experienced a historic blackout caused not by cyberattacks or renewables alone, but by a fast-moving overvoltage event that exposed weaknesses in voltage control, grid coordination, and legacy operating practices in a renewable-heavy power system. Investigations concluded the outage was multifactorial, prompting Spain and Portugal to reform voltage-control rules, expand grid resilience measures, and accelerate deployment of batteries, grid-forming technologies, and renewable-based voltage support to stabilize future electricity networks.

Researchers from UNSW and DAS Solar developed a zero-busbar metal grid optimization approach for tunnel oxide passivated back-contact (TBC) silicon solar cells, enabling more efficient current collection at the rear surface while reducing silver consumption by 3–4 mg/W. The first TBC cells produced in mass manufacturing using this technique have demonstrated efficiencies exceeding 27%.

Research from the UK finds aerosols reduced global solar output by 5.8% in 2023, equivalent to 111 TWh. While China accounted for over half the global total in 2023, the country is the only major solar-producing region found to be demonstrating a decline in annual losses.

Researchers have developed a low-temperature, hydrogen peroxide-mediated oxidative liquefaction process to recycle end-of-life solar panels by selectively breaking down polymers into useful chemical feedstocks. The proposed method reduces energy consumption, eliminates hazardous solvents, and minimizes landfill waste compared to traditional recycling techniques.

Gasunie has launched a 32-km hydrogen pipeline in the Port of Rotterdam linking Maasvlakte and Pernis, marking the first operational section of the Dutch hydrogen backbone and enabling future expansion toward national and cross-border hydrogen networks.

A study from Türkiye has introduced the Agrivoltaic Innovation Index (AII), a composite scientometric tool designed to assess innovation readiness in agrivoltaics beyond traditional publication and citation metrics. The index evaluates research across four dimensions – conceptual, translational, network, and societal – and shows that high publication volume does not necessarily correspond to higher innovation readiness.

The Chinese manufacturer said the system is designed for easy AC-coupled integration with existing PV systems and scalable expansion up to 7.5 kW three-phase output. The system purportedly delivers 800 W–2.5 kW AC output, supports up to 5.76 kW PV input with 96.5% efficiency.

The ultra-thin TOPCon solar cell uses dual-sided polysilicon passivated contacts formed by low-pressure chemical vapor deposition. The champion device, with a thickness of only 80 μm, achieved 19.7% efficiency with 719 mV open-circuit voltage and demonstrated strong passivation, optical performance, and mechanical flexibility.

An engineer and home-energy enthusiast installs the Anker Solix E10 on a fire-prone California hillside, and documents the entire process in a deep dive review for ESS News

Instances of cracks in PV module glass started appearing about five years ago. Spontaneous glass breakage is now one of the solar industry’s top issues, but manufacturing pressures and a lack of standards are hindering solutions.