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Second-life batteries might beat new ones on solar LCOE in remote locations

UK scientists have discovered that second-life batteries could provide a lower levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) than conventional batteries in school buildings equipped with PV in East African schools. They said the cheapest system configuration uses either 7.5 kW or 10 kW of solar with 20 kWh of storage.

New photovoltaic-thermal solar panel from Spain

Spanish PVT specialist Abora Solar has developed aH72SK modules, which combine solar panels with power conversion efficiencies of 17.8% and a thermal efficiency rating of around 70%. Its total area is 1.96 square meters.

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US startup begins producing 40%-efficient thermophotovoltaic cells

Antora Energy says its new 2 MW factory will make thermophotovoltaic cells for thermal storage applications. The cells are based on III-V semiconductors and reportedly have a heat-to-electricity conversion efficiency of more than 40%.

Storing renewables via regenerative braking in underground mines

Scientists in Austria have developed a long-term energy storage system that uses regenerative braking to adjust the descent speed of sand in mine shafts and generate electricity.

Assessing vibrations in solar modules due to robot cleaning

Qatari researchers have looked at the degree to which cleaning robots could threaten the physical integrity of solar panels. They found that cleaning machines have a very minimal impact and that modules of similar sizes tend to exhibit roughly the same amount of vibration.

Water jet tech to recover glass from end-of-life solar panels

Japan’s Shintora Kosan has developed a novel water jet technology to recover glass from end-of-life PV modules. It says it can pulverize the solar cells and the backsheets without damaging the glass.

All-perovskite tandem solar cell with 27.1% efficiency via gas quenching

The US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has achieved remarkable efficiency and stability for a wide-bandgap all-perovskite tandem solar cell. The scientist developed the device with an inverted architecture and used gas quenching instead of an antisolvent in the manufacturing process.

Cooling solar modules with vacuum pressure

Scientists in Indonesia have developed a vacuum technique to lower the temperature of PV modules below the ambient air temperature. They applied it to a solar module in a casing that is resistant to negative pressure.

Cooling down photovoltaic panels with concrete

Scientists in Italy have proposed the use of radiative coolers made of cementitious materials to reduce the operating temperature of solar panels. The novel system configuration consists of a stack made by a reflector, a cement-based radiative cooler, and a bifacial solar cell.

Color-sensing tech to remove dirt from solar panels

South African researchers have developed a new cleaning system for solar panels that uses a color-sensing light-to-frequency converter to detect dirt. It can reportedly remove around 95% of the dust from a PV panel in less than a minute, at a lower cost than other systems.

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