China mulling restrictions on polysilicon, wafer exports
The Chinese government is considering the introduction of export restrictions on solar wafers, black silicon, and silicon casting equipment. It has launched a public consultation process on the proposed measures.
Eggplants grow 50% more under solar panels
French specialist Sun’Agri unveiled the agronomic results on a crop of eggplant grown in a greenhouse commissioned in the Lot-et-Garonne in September, 2020.
Greek manufacturer to open organic solar cell factory
Organic Electronics Technologies (OET) has announced the start of a European-funded project that will develop and build an automated manufacturing production line for integrated printed organic photovoltaics in Thessaloniki, Greece.
Gautam Solar’s 545 Wp 10BB mono PV panels are now ALMM approved
The latest update to the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) includes Gautam Solar’s mono PERC ten-busbar half-cut and mono PERC five-busbar full-cell panels.
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%.
Rajasthan signs MoUs worth $14.85 billion for renewable energy, storage, and hydrogen projects
The State government has signed agreements for various giga-scale projects across renewable energy generation, solar manufacturing, pumped hydro storage, and green hydrogen.
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.
Longi plans new 100 GW wafer plant, 50 GW solar cell factory in China
Longi Solar said it will invest CNY 42.5 billion ($6.65 billion) in 100 GW of wafer capacity and 50 GW of solar cell capacity in Shaanxi province, China.
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.
