Technology

Robotics is evolving to ease the maintenance of solar power plants. From drones combined with thermal imaging to the robotic cleaning crew for large-scale solar PV plants, automation and robotics are constantly evolving for the cleaning and maintenance of PV plants.

Germany’s Paxos is currently testing the solar tile in a testing facility connected to an air heat pump. The panel can provide heat and electricity at the same time, while also improving the heat pump’s coefficient of performance by around 25%.

Jakson Green, a new energy platform backed by Jakson Group, will set up a 365,000 tons per annum green hydrogen and green ammonia plant in Rajasthan. It will develop the plant, along with an integrated hybrid renewable power complex, in phases with a cumulative investment of about INR 22,400 crore. 

Norway’s SINTEF has designed a heat storage system based on phase change materials (PCM) that can support PV generation and peak shaving. The battery’s container hosts 3 tons of liquid biowax based on vegetable oil and is now beating performance expectations at a pilot facility.

Hitachi Energy will provide made-in-India power transformers for NTPC’s upcoming 4.75 GW solar energy park in Gujarat.

A team of international researchers has simplified the deposition of thin film layers in the commercial production of TOPCon solar cells. Via a tube-type industrial plasma-assisted atomic layer deposition (PEALD) technique, they were able to achieve a power conversion efficiency of 22.8% in a 60-cell, 613 W TOPCon module.

India’s RenewSys has unveiled its DESERV Extreme series of bifacial modules, with front-side power outputs ranging from 565 W to 590 W.  The modules are built with half-cut, mono PERC cells.

Australian manufacturer GreatCell has built a cell with roll-to-roll coating technology. It designed it without a hole transport layer (HTL) and used carbon composite back contacts, which offer excellent electrical conductivity.

NTPC and Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) have signed an agreement for hydrogen co-firing in MHI’s gas turbines installed at NTPC Auraiya gas power plant in Uttar Pradesh. The two companies will collaborate to carry out the study and identify key actions for introducing hydrogen co-firing blended with natural gas.

The Group will invest more than INR 60,000 crore ($7.28 billion) in setting up renewable energy projects, including green hydrogen, in the Indian state of Rajasthan.