A research team from the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory has analyzed n-type modules deployed in a 3 MW commercial PV project in an effort to assess the high degradation rate reported by the plant owner. The scientists found that ultraviolet-induced degradation (UVID) was a major factor affecting the facility’s performance.

Scientists in Belgium have investigated how perovskite absorbers used in solar cell degrade under three different stress test types and have found that the interface between the perovskite layer and the electron transport layer suffers from weak thermomechanical stability, which creates the conditions for performance losses.

Researchers in China have investigated four strategies that minimize TOPCon solar cell surface recombination centers and improve light trapping performance. They identified alkali polishing with micro-texturing as the most suitable technique to improve TOPCon cell open-circuit voltage and fill factor and the overall device performance.

New research from Europe shows that the global PV industry may require up to 14,000 tonnes of silver per year in 2030, with global supply being only 34,000 tonnes. The scientists said more efforts should be made to reduce silver content in TOPCon and heterojunction solar cells.

The new products are available in nine versions with power output ranging from 620 W to 660 W and power conversion efficiency spanning from 23.0% to 24.4%. Canadian Solar said the panels have a carbon footprint of 285 kg CO₂eq/kW, which is reportedly one of the lowest among all silicon-based solar modules worldwide.

The US Federal Highway Administration (FHA) has warned that cellular radios have been found in unspecified foreign-made inverters and batteries used in PV highway infrastructure, according to Reuters. pv magazine speaks with cybersecurity expert Uri Sadot about the risks.

Sandia National Labs researchers have created a new dataset on the rates and types of rooftop PV connector failures. Their analysis has shown that tight wire bending radius, extra dirty connectors, and loose nuts are the most common failure causes in 6,276 connectors deployed between 2014 and 2017 across seven U.S. regions.

The Chinese manufacturer said the result was achieved thanks to new perovskite crystallization additives and high-mobility carrier transport layer materials.

The Tiger Neo 3.0 panel features an 85% bifacility factor that translates into 553-570 W of rear side power output, according to the Chinese manufactuer. The new product is claimed to be the “world’s most powerful solar module.”

The pilot production line will be deployed at Fraunhofer ISE’s Photovoltaic Technology Evaluation Center (PV-TEC) in Freiburg and will produce TOPCon solar cells in the G12 format.