Emiliano Bellini
PEM electrolysis coupled with thermal energy storage
Chinese researchers claim to have improved the performance of a proton exchange membrane electrolyser by connecting it to a thermal energy storage system.
IEA warns one-third of global PV manufacturing capacity at risk of bankruptcy
A new report from the International Energy Agency stresses the importance of geographically diversifying the global PV supply chain. This would prevent supply chain vulnerability to bankruptcies and underinvestment.
German consortium plans to build world’s largest heat pump
Basf and Man Energy announced a plan to build a 120 MW renewables-powered heat pump for steam production at an industrial site operated by Basf in the Rhineland-Palatinate region, Germany. The feasibility study for the project should be completed by the end of this year.
Solar cells integrating power electronics
Researchers in the Netherlands investigated the potential for integrating power electronics in solar cells in the form of diodes, transistors, capacitors, and inductors. They believe that this kind of PV cell may initially find applications in PV-powered Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices and later, as the economy of scale kicks in, in large-scale applications.
Solar-plus-storage for Indonesian islands
Indonesian remote islands are increasingly resorting to solar-plus-storage to cover most of their electricity demand. According to new research from LUT University, combining PV with batteries may help islands to cover around 60% of demand with renewable energy.
Perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell with TOPCon structure hits 27.6% efficiency
A research group led by Chinese manufacturer JinkoSolar has developed a tandem perovskite-silicon cell with a subcell based on TOPCon tech. The group succeeded in reducing voltage losses in the silicon sub-cell by minimising the shunting probability during device fabrication.
Glass pyramid concentrator for solar cell applications
Stanford University scientists have built an optical concentrator that purportedly harvests more than 90% of the light that hits its surface.
Longi’s heterojunction solar cell hits 26.5%
Germany’s Institute for Solar Energy Research Hamelin has confirmed that Longi’s new n-type heterojunction solar cell has achieved a power conversion efficiency of 26.5%.
Chinese polysilicon producer shuts down factory due to fire
East Hope has halted production due to a fire at its factory in the Zhundong Economic and Technological Development Zone, in China’s Xinjiang region. pv magazine recently spoke with polysilicon analyst Johannes Bernreuter about the possible consequences of the fire on the supply chain.
Philippines allocates 1.57 GW of solar in 2 GW renewables auction
The main winner of the first renewables auction in the Philippines was developer Solar Philippines Nueva Ecija Corp. (SPNEC), which secured five solar projects, or 1.35 GW of capacity.
