solar cell

Finnish scientists have developed a four-junction solar cell based on III-V semiconductor materials that is said to be able to achieve a wide spectral coverage. The cell was monolithically grown on gallium arsenide by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE).

According to French financial newspaper Les Echos, EDF, the main shareholder of PhotoWatt, is considering closing the production in Bourgoin-Jallieu. The Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regional council is mobilizing to save the company and announces that a regional company may acquire the module manufacturer.

PV Infolink reported a considerable increase in prices for polysilicon and wafer prices for last week. Both products saw their average price increase by over 9% compared to the previous week.

Canadian scientists have developed a way to improve the short-term models used to forecast the impact of snow on PV arrays. The parameters include the warming effect of irradiance on the backs of panels, thermal capacity, and irradiance through snow.

According to JinkoSolar vice president Dany Qian, PV panel prices rose significantly since the second quarter of last year due to an increasing shortage of polysilicon, glass, silver, and module frames. She also stated that rushing demand cannot stop prices from rising for at least the next six months or longer, until sufficient capacity ramps up.

Goodwe and Irico have both announced rising revenue and profits for the fiscal year 2020. Zhonghuan Semiconductor intends to produce thinner wafers to respond to increasing polyisilicon prices. The southwestern province of Yunnan wants to add another 15 GW of clean energy to its power generation mix.

A numerical study by researchers at India’s Chitkara University has shown enhanced charge extraction in metal-perovskite-metal back-contact solar cell structure through electrostatic doping. The proposed design yielded a 59.4% improvement in power conversion efficiency over previously reported structures.

The mini panel has a surface of 10 cm². It was built with a manufacturing technique that is claimed to be compatible with the integration of perovskite into heterojunction silicon solar cells in tandem architecture.

The US researchers claim to have achieved the remarkable result by adding a special conductive layer of tin dioxide bonded between the conductive layer and the perovskite material. They also improved the perovskite layer special additives that do not alter the material’s bandgap.

According to German scientists, the quality of the photoluminescence quantum yield of the perovskite layers can be reliably and precisely determined for the first time. It shows that the promising material has more potential for optimization than previously assumed.