NREL

Wider use of electric heat pumps to heat buildings creates a larger market for renewable energy, but also presents challenges, which can be met through building insulation and weatherization, cold climate heat pumps, thermal energy storage systems, and higher-voltage distribution grids, according to a new report by Energy Systems Integration Group (ESIG).

The Durable Module Materials consortium (DuraMAT) announced in its latest annual report the availability of new PV forecasting tools, and new research results towards the goal of more reliable PV modules.

With PV module capacity ramping up, glass suppliers have been investing in new solar glass production capacity. As in India and China, new facilities are popping up in North America, with unique twists to ensure competitiveness, such as using recycled material.

The US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has updated its research cell efficiency chart for a range of PV technologies.

The US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has released a cost-estimation tool for new closed-loop pumped storage hydropower (PSH) plants in the United States. The tool allows operators to select from a range of system characteristics and account for factors such as local geology, labor rates and inflation.

The US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has added a high-resolution solar data set covering Africa, Eastern Europe and the Middle East on its Renewable Energy Data Explorer tool.

Silicon-perovskite tandem solar requires optimization of both approaches, and embodies the weaknesses of each. Meanwhile, the use of pure thin-film devices offers a cheaper, simpler, and more sustainable PV solution for the United States.

With so much more agricultural real estate than Europe, the United States is building on the body of research built up across The Pond and rolling out solar panels on farmland at an impressive rate.

Reports of broken module glass with no obvious cause have begun to crop up at large PV projects. Module design, glass manufacturing, and interactions in the field between modules and trackers are at play and a clear solution has yet to emerge. Early signs suggest an update to certification standards may be needed.

The US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has identified a low-cost way to produce high-efficiency III-V solar cells with dynamic hydride vapor phase epitaxy (D-HVPE). The synthesis involved a gallium arsenide (GaAs) solar cell with a gallium indium arsenide phosphide emitter layer.