‘Bias, both conscious and unconscious, affects hiring and promotions’
This week, Women in Solar Europe (WiSEu) gives voice to Josef Kastner, the CEO of Austria-based Nexun. He says professional decisions must be based on ability, not gender. “Societal expectations influence leadership styles, but fairness is non-negotiable. Everyone deserves the same rights and opportunities,” he states.
Transparent tandem solar cell hits record 12.3% efficiency
A global research team has developed a tandem solar cell with 30% transparency by combining perovskite and organic layers, achieving a record 12.3% efficiency for transparent solar cells.
Compressed air energy storage system for homes, businesses
Segula Technologies has launched its Remora Stack product, a containerized isothermal air compression storage solution the company claims is 70% efficient.
Mandatory switch to smart meters on track in Flanders
Belgian grid operator Fluvius says it is on course to finish installing smart meters in all solar-powered homes in the Belgian region of Flanders by the end of this year.
Accuracy Analysis: ECMWF’s AI model for solar forecasting performs well
In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, analyses a new AI-driven weather model from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF).
Corporate PPAs with variable price structure achieve higher performance
Researchers in Portugal have simulated 800 power purchase agreemeents across eight different contract type and have found that contracts with a variable price structure achieve higher performance. Their analysis considered net present value, contract performance deviation and volume residual as the main indicators.
UK researchers build two-electrode photoelectrochemical device with 5% solar-to-hydrogen efficiency
A research team from two London universities have developed a multi-layer device that addresses the instability of organic materials in water to further their use in direct solar hydrogen generation. Monolithic tandem anodes fabricated by the team reached a solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of 5%, a record in organic photoelectrochemical device performance.
SMA America releases 99.2% efficient grid-scale battery storage inverter
The inverters use a silicon carbide metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor for high power conversion capability.
EU launches partnerships to strengthen PV, advanced materials, textiles
The European Commission has established three Horizon Europe partnerships to improve technological prowess, industrial strength, and eco-friendly innovation, channeling nearly €1.1 billion ($1.19 billion) by 2030 into photovoltaics, advanced materials, and textiles.
Tecnalia, Vita International developing solar guardrails
Spain’s Tecnalia and Italy-based Vita International have designed a new photovoltaic guardrail, set for testing later this year on a 100-meter stretch of a highway service area between Turin and Trieste, Italy.
