Gravity-based renewable energy storage tower for grid-scale operations
Energy Vault secured $100 million in Series C funding for its EVx tower, which stores gravitational potential energy for grid dispatch.
Fraunhofer CSP develops repair process for PERC solar cells
The performance of the solar cell contacts can be improved with laser-assisted current treatment. The process does not damage the solar cells but only optimizes faulty semiconductor-metal contacts.
Green roof improves solar panel efficiency by 3.6% on average
The comparison of two solar cladded roofs in Sydney, Australia, one bare beneath its panels and the other adorned with native grasses and plants, has found the panels on the green roof were, on average, 3.63% more efficient, producing an average daily output 13% greater than the conventional roof. The improvements are believed to stem from the lower temperatures on the green roof, thanks to its plants – which also provided a plethora of additional benefits.
Growatt unveils off-grid inverter
The 3 kW inverter has an efficiency of 95% and features a surge power of 9000 VA. According to the manufacturer, the device is compatible with mainstream lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries.
Bullish clean energy stocks helped maintain healthy investment levels
The latest renewables investment report produced by analyst BloombergNEF has noted backing for solar projects continued to rise in the first half as wind power investment fell back.
Redox flow battery retains more than 90% of capacity over 6,000 cycles via new catholyte
The battery was built with a new catholyte and a symmetry-breaking strategy, which consists of changing the symmetry of the redox-active organic molecules instead of using the common approach of attaching a hydrophilic functional group.
Blockchain for PV module recycling
Next Energy and Marubeni are developing a blockchain tech for PV module inspection – with the support of the Japanese government – which they claim is able to provide data on a panel’s traceability and components as well as verifying that the data were not modified or tampered with.
Novel PV module recycling tech from South Korea
Developed by the Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER), the “non-destructive” technology is claimed to enable the recovery of 100% of a module’s glass and to allow the reuse of silicon for producing new solar cells with an efficiency of 20.05%.
Australian researchers develop bifacial solar cell with 96.3% bifacial factor
Australian National University researchers claim to have set a world record for bifacial solar cell efficiency that they say could boost the energy output of solar farms by 30%.
Cooling PV modules with plants, coir pith
An Indian-Malaysian research group has investigated the effectiveness of several passive cooling techniques for solar panels, including the placement of plants around the modules or coir pith underneath them, both of which, surprisingly, offered good performance in terms of temperature reduction and power yield.
