Technology and R&D

The Stuttgart-based industrial group wants to work on technology development and production with the British fuel cell manufacturer. Bosch considers highly efficient fuel cells an important step forward in the energy transition.

As the global EV market grows, manufacturers are seeking new revenue streams for used EV batteries. Applications in grid and residential storage systems have become popular. The market for second-life EV batteries is expected to reach $4.2 billion by 2025.

When pioneering and award-winning solar researcher Stuart Wenham passed away suddenly shortly before Christmas last year, some in the PV industry may have wondered what would become of his research into the role of hydrogen in crystalline silicon cells. His daughter, Alison Ciesla is answering that question alongside Wenham’s former team at UNSW, advancing its work into the crucial role of hydrogen in the degradation of silicon cells.

Arizona State University researchers have determined that a 32% efficient perovskite-silicon tandem cell could produce electricity at the same price as cutting-edge 22% efficient panels in the most cost-competitive of situations

Enel Green Power North America and Raptor Maps will develop AI-based drones to reduce O&M costs. Kicking off this month, the project will see its first batch of 30 field workers trained by the end of the year. Both companies already have the relevant technology in their portfolios.

New developments in inverter architecture suggest that string inverters have charged forwards again to take on the challenge and kick central inverters off the throne in the utility-scale market. Hardware design innovations allowing to cut down BoS capex and improve efficiency of the plants might push string inverters further to take more space in the utility-scale market place.

The U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory has developed a process which it says can dramatically reduce the costs of producing ultra-high efficiency cells from gallium arsenide, and other III-V compounds, similar to the solar cells used by NASA in space exploration projects.

A team of researchers from the Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin and University of Potsdam has been able to observe defects in a perovskite solar cell, and found that the largest efficiency losses occur at the interface between the perovskite and transport layer.

A group of Russian researchers has found out that under resonance conditions, the Pyramid of Giza can concentrate electromagnetic energy in its internal chambers. This discovery, the scientists claim, may also be used to develop high efficient solar cells.

An international team of scientists working with polymer-fullerene solar cells has developed a process of fluorination, which demonstrated a significant boost in cell efficiency. According to Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, the discovery could assist the development of new thin film solar materials.