Huge aluminum demand expected in solar industry, concerns arise on emissions
Researchers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) predict that growth to 60TW of photovoltaics needed to rapidly reduce emissions to ‘net zero’ and limit global warming to <2 °C could require up to 486 Mt of aluminium by 2050. A key concern for this large aluminium demand is its large global warming potential.
Making cheaper H2
The hype surrounding green hydrogen is real, but does the cost-reduction outlook for its production technologies live up to it? Christian Roselund looks at the technology, transportation, application and enabling policies behind the promising green energy carrier.
Sodium-ion battery tech gets commercial testing in UK
Harwell Campus will provide a testbed for energy storage technologies coming from three U.K.-based innovative businesses, bringing their solutions one step closer to the market.
Best fire safety practices for rooftop PV systems
Compiled by an international research group, the best practices were collected from all available guidelines published by national agencies, regulatory bodies, and trade associations.
TOPCon vs PERC
TOPCon solar cells are on their way to fully compete with PERC solar products, according to recent research from Germany’s Fraunhofer ISE. Efficiency gains for the TOPCon concept, however, are necessary to help it capture more market share, as production costs remain higher than those for PERC tech. A series of cost-driven strategies to make TOPCon modules advance were outlined in the study.
Discover Battery unveils lithium ferro-phosphate battery for off-grid solar, tiny homes
At Intersolar North America in California, Canada-based Discover Battery has launched the Helios energy storage system, an LFP battery designed to operate in remote conditions.
Ohmium partners IIT Madras on PEM electrolyzer R&D
The USA-headquartered green hydrogen generator developer has entered into an R&D partnership with IIT Madras Research Park (IITMRP) to improve the performance and lower the cost of its polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolyzers.
Spraying water system for solar module cooling
A British-Indian research group has developed an active cooling technique that is claimed to improve a PV system’s yield by around 0.5%. The system could be used in residential solar arrays and the water heated by the PV modules may be fed into a solar water heating system.
Japanese consortium builds lithium-air battery with energy density of 500 Wh/kg
A Japanese group has developed a storage system with potential applications in residential storage, electric vehicles, drones and Internet-of-Things devices.
Panasonic unveils 410 W solar panel with 22.2% efficiency
The new heterojunction module series is compatible with Panasonic’s Evervolt battery and has a power output ranging from 400 to 410 W. It also features a temperature coefficient of -0.26% per degree Celsius.
