United States

Researchers at the American Institute of Physics have used the clear-sky irradiance model developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to measure the degradation rates of solar panels at a testing field in Germany over five years. The scientists say the model, when combined with real-world data, offers an efficient tool to evaluate the aging of PV technology.

The Indian installer supplied panels for a commercial client in the U.S. who had been inspired by a trip to Rajasthan with his wife in 2008.

California-based SimpliPhi Power, which designs and manufactures lithium ferro phosphate (LFP) energy storage systems, has brought off-grid power to everything from the giant moon on Conan O’Brien’s talk show set to U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, to rooftops for Whole Foods and Airbnb. As the company prepares to enter into India, CEO and President Catherine Von Burg tells pv magazine why their LFP technology is best suited for India and their plans for the country.

Dhaka has heeded complaints about Indian manufacturers allegedly dumping sub-standard PV products over the border and issued a requirement for modules, inverters, charge controllers and batteries to attain IEC electrical standards.

Market intelligence company Navigant Research has developed a country forecast of the global market. Incentives and pricing will be the main driver of installations, though the market will continue to be concentrated in certain key regions, including India, for now.

The recycling market will experience a tenfold expansion between last year and 2030, driven by EV battery usage and portable electronics. Retrieving valuable metals and minerals is becoming a high priority and several dozen companies are already in position for the first big wave of end-of-life batteries.

A U.S. research team has used protein bacteriorhodopsin to improve the efficiency of what it called ‘bioperovskite’ solar cells. The scientists used Förster Resonance Energy Transfer to predict the strength of long-range excitonic transport between the perovskite and protein layers.

Scientists at the United States Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have discovered a root cause of dendrite formation, which can cause battery failure and even fires in lithium-ion technology. With this new knowledge, the group is now working on electrolyte recipes that eliminate dendrite growth entirely.

This year will see strong growth for the global PV market, to 114 GW, and that pattern will continue in the years ahead, according to analyst Wood Mackenzie. A report has highlighted soaring inverter replacement costs for PV project owners as a side-effect of the solar success story.

The $1 million Gandhi Solar Park was an attempt to signal to the world India is committed to renewable energy. The 50 kW array features one panel for each UN member state.