Technology and R&D

A UK consortium has developed the Prisma system, which stores thermal energy in liquid air form to provide onsite compressed air, via a latent energy cold storage tank filled with a phase-change material. It is expected to have a levelized cost of storage of GBP 114 ($143.10)/MWh.

Sharp’s new IEC 61215 and IEC 61730-certified-certified panel features 144 half-cells based on M10 wafers and a 10-busbar design. Its operating temperature coefficient is -0.349% per degree Celsius and its power tolerance reaches up to 5%.

USA-headquartered CubicPV will supply, per annum, 1 GW of Direct Wafer silicon solar cells to Indian manufacturer Waaree Energies under a five-year contract. The cells will be supplied from its upcoming 2 GW factory in India.

The device is described as a heat engine with no moving parts that is able to produce power from a heat source of between 1,900 to 2,400 C. This concept is known as thermal energy grid storage (TEGS) and consists of a low-cost, grid-scale storage technology that uses thermophotovoltaic cells to convert heat to electricity above 2,000 C.

Ensuring pragmatic energy storage transformation is proportional to tweaking the current battery storage chemistry. Zinc battery technology is gaining traction, changing the prevailing energy storage dynamics.

Created by a Dutch group of companies and research institutions, the mobile solar system may also be combined with an electrolyzer for hydrogen generation. Two prototypes are currently being tested by a farmer and a research institute in the Netherlands.

Chinese inverter maker Growatt has launched Infinity 1500, a portable power station for off-grid applications.

US scientists have utilized a nanochannels device to cool down the operating temperature of a commercial PV module and have found that the proposed technique is able to improve power yield by up to 32.8%. Spray droplets are dispersed over the nanochannels device in order to eliminate the need for a continuous supply of a coolant.

Developed by Canadian start-up Salient Energy, the zinc-ion battery has a rated capacity of 60 Ah, a nominal voltage of 1.3 V, and a volumetric energy density of 100 Wh/L. The device measures 26cmx24cmx1.2cm and weighs in at 1.3 kg

or some developers of ground-mounted PV, bifacial modules are already the default technology. The slight cost increase is often outweighed by an increase in energy yield. And yet “agreeing” on the right energy yield of a PV plant has always been the most heated debate between developers, investors, lenders, and technical advisers. Everoze partner Christophe Campistron looks at both sides.