Manufacturing

Scientists at the Nankai University in China have provided a comprehensive overview of current research on silicon heterojunction-based tandem solar cells (SHJ-TSCs) and shared their expectations of future developments in this field.

The lead-acid battery major, which is into lithium battery assembly in a joint venture with Swiss firm Leclanche, will set up a multi-gigawatt lithium-ion cell manufacturing plant as it strives to become more cost-competitive and better serve its customers.

Nexcharge, a joint venture of India’s largest lead-acid storage battery manufacturer, Exide Industries Limited, and Swiss Lithium-ion battery manufacturer Leclanché, has fully automated assembly lines of li-ion battery packs, modules, and cell testing labs in Gujarat. Ketan Chitnis, vice president-stationary BU, tells pv magazine the government’s PLI Scheme is a major incentive for attracting investment into Li-ion cell manufacturing.

The Mumbai-headquartered natural resources company has acquired Goa-based Nicomet, a producer of cobalt, nickel, and their derivates in India, as it looks to capitalize on the electric vehicles and energy storage boom.

An international research team has examined combining solar power generation with energy-intensive hydroponic horticulture and has found that this may be a viable solution depending on project size and available incentive policies. Their approach considered various factors impacting PV system efficiency, including environmental factors, the type of solar array, and the electricity demand from the hydroponic farm.

There is a threshold at which big becomes too big when it comes to PV module sizes, argues Hongbin Fang, the director of product marketing at Longi Solar. Fang recently said at pv magazine’s Roundtables USA event that despite size limits, there is still a lot of efficiency and cost-reduction potential to come.

The mission envisages commercial production of green hydrogen production in the nation from the financial year 2025-26 onwards.

German engineering association the VDMA has reported increasing orders and sales for PV equipment suppliers in the third quarter. China accounted for around 80% of PV production equipment demand during the period.

Conceived by a Dutch consortium, according to Design for Recycling guidelines, the panel is being developed with two different encapsulants, one for the front of the module, which joins the glass and cells together; and a slightly different formulation for the back of the module, which attaches cells and backsheet together.

India’s Reliance Industries sees the response to climate change as a huge opportunity to create value through a new energy and materials business. The company aims to set up a fully integrated, end-to-end renewable energy ecosystem.