World

An Indian-US research team has fabricated a four-terminal perovskite-cadmium telluride tandem solar cell by utilizing a highly conductive and sputtered transparent electrode to increase the current density of the bottom cell. The tandem device combines a 18.3%-efficient top perovskite cell and a 19.53%-efficient cadmium telluride bottom device.

Researchers at the University of South Carolina have successfully transitioned their highly-durable lithium-sulfur battery technology from coin to pouch cells and reported competent energy densities.

Scientists in South Africa have modeled a photovoltaic system connected to a thermoelectric cooling device and have found it may produce around 9.2% more electricity than conventional PV system without cooling. The research team claims the proposed system guarantees a minimum cost saving of 10.56%.

GAIL (India) Ltd, India’s largest natural gas company, has set up a green hydrogen plant that can produce 4.3 tonnes of hydrogen per day through 10 MW PEM (proton exchange membrane) electrolyzer units.

Space-based solar power generation has the potential to address many of the challenges that terrestrial systems face.

The German research institute said the new 120 µm thin solar cell could exceed 25% efficiency with the next optimization steps. The device was metalized via screen-printed contact fingers and calibrated by scientists at the Institute for Solar Energy Research Hamelin.

Renshine Solar says it will open a gigawatt-scale perovskite PV module factory in Jiangsu province, with a planned investment of CNY 1 billion ($138 million). In January, it reported that its perovskite solar panels had achieved a power conversion efficiency of 18.4%.

U.S. scientists have developed a thermophotovoltaic cell that could be paired with inexpensive thermal storage to provide power on demand. The indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) thermophotovoltaic cell absorbs most of the in-band radiation to generate electricity, while serving as a nearly perfect mirror.

Solarwatt says it will shut down its battery factory in Germany. Battery production at the Dresden facility will halt at the end of this year, and the company will move all battery and solar panel production to China.

Researchers in Nigeria have proposed to build inverted perovskite solar cells exclusively with all-inorganic transport materials and a lead-free perovksite absorber. Through a series of simulations, they showed these device may achieve efficiencies over 30% with low production costs.