Singapore

The Swiss PV equipment supplier posted the loss for 2019, citing increasingly fierce competition in China, and plans to continue a strategic realignment of its business with the options including the establishment of a European PV manufacturing operation.

An international research group has analyzed the visual impact of PV facades on buildings which include crop cultivation. Architects, PV specialists and farmers were surveyed and the results showed broad acceptance of such projects.

With the absorption of ‘hot’ charges, which lose their energy faster than it can be absorbed by any convention technology, solar cells could become massively more efficient. An international group of scientists has developed a method to examine the bond between a perovskite and charge extraction layer, and determine the most suitable materials for hot charge extraction in a solar cell.

An international research group claims to have developed a new bulk perovskite semiconductor material that can capture the excess energy of hot electrons. The material is said to rapidly absorb as heat energy which would otherwise be wasted. With the harvesting of hot electrons, the maximum theoretical efficiency for hybrid-perovskite solar cells could increase from 33% to 66%.

A new handbook published by the World Bank and Solar Research Institute of Singapore contains advice on how to plan and build floating PV. The guide is intended to help developers with site identification; feasibility studies; finance; environmental and social issues; procurement and construction; and operations and maintenance.

TES issued a press release announcing the new facilities that is light on detail but claimed the plants would position it as ‘a leader’ in battery recycling. The company also announced an intent to move into the reuse of spent electric vehicle batteries in commercial and residential applications.

Scientists at Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research have developed a new method to produce lithium-sulfur based cathodes which exhibit stable performance and high storage capacity over 200 cycles. According to the agency, this represents “a promising step towards the commercialization of lithium-sulfur batteries.”

With the 600 MW production line the company’s annual module production capacity will approach 2 GW.

Mike Cannon-Brookes, co-founder of software company Atlassian Corp, announced on the sidelines of the UN Climate Action Summit in New York he will help fund the ambitious 10 GW, AU$20 billion, Sun Cable Project in Australia’s Northern Territory.

The water authority of the city state wants to procure a 50 MW floating solar installation on the Tengeh Reservoir that will be operational by 2021. Details were revealed today by technical consultant DNV GL.