Europe

As new cell and module concepts move into large-scale production, and efficiencies are pushed ever higher, manufacturers of flash testing equipment must innovate to ensure their tools can provide reliable measurements, and cope with ever expanding production throughput. The expansion of bifacial technology beyond niche applications in particular raises new issues for flash testing standards. pv magazine spoke with several flasher manufacturers to shed light on the latest developments in this segment.

The first companies are demonstrating that today it can be worthwhile commercially to back electric vehicles in combination with solar generation and storage. Particularly in the case of public charging stations, solar power used for electric vehicle charging could become the basis for a profitable operator model in the future.

Historic Swiss brand Leclanché is on an expansionist trail, notably in India and low-carbon shipping, but restructuring its debts will involve ceding even more control of the venerable company to institutional investors.

The research team was able to improve the cell efficiency by 2.1%. The cell silicon layer was etched on the back-side, while a a polymer light management (LM) foil was applied to the front-side of the device.

Controllable, distributed battery storage systems can help avoid bottlenecks in power distribution networks. That reduces the cost of grid expansion, but to turn this use of storage systems into a business model, a number of conditions still have to be met.

The Indian company will build a 100 MW solar park in the Akërni salt flats, near Vlorë. A 50 MW section of the plant will sell power to the local distributor at €59.9 per MWh over a 15-year period, while the remaining portion will sell electricity at market prices.

The first companies are demonstrating that today it can be worthwhile commercially to back electric vehicles in combination with solar generation and storage. Particularly in the case of public charging stations, solar power used for electric vehicle charging could become the basis for a profitable operator model in the future.

Sterling and Wilson wants to construct 200 MW of PV in Kazakhstan in the next two years and says it is eager to get a slice of the Uzbek market too.

pv magazine interviewed Ricardo Arias González, who holds a PhD in Physical Sciences and introduced the Optical Tweezers applied to biology in Spain. It is one of the tools of photonics for which Arthur Ashkin received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2018, together with Donna Strickland and Gérard Mourou.

The second day of REI in Greater Noida continues to attract large numbers of delegates, with the exhibition halls crowded, and conferences well attended. During an EU-Indian session this morning, India’s CEEW boldly stated that India is the largest clean energy market in the world, which will operate on market-friendly principles. Overall, CEO, Arunabha Ghosh outlined four basic vows needed for the Indian renewables market to grow; and said decarbonzation of the industrial sector should be the next big focus for renewables.