With calls for a revival in European PV manufacturing becoming more urgent, the Environmental, Social, and Governance credentials of its PV producers are being touted as a way in which manufacturing can be supported or even protected. The case for the ESG credentials of European manufacturing was advanced by multiple speakers at the 2023 SolarPower Summit this week in Brussels.

World-leading solar researcher UNSW Scientia Professor Martin Green says that PV research activities in Australia right across the value chain will be accelerated by the recent $41.5 million (USD 28.5 million) funding awards from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency. The funding will foster the development of ultra-low-cost solar by extending and expanding nine UNSW solar research programs.

A reduction of silver consumption in PV production is required on the way to terawatt scale. Given this, the time may have come for the commercialisation of new copper plating technologies – doing away with the need for silver in cell metallisation altogether. However, the history of plating technology is littered with cautionary tales.

Pioneering PV researcher Martin Green has received an abundance of accolades over his 50-year career of fundamental solar research with teams at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). That contribution was further recognised on Sept. 26, when he picked up the WCPEC-8 Award in Milan, Italy. Green spoke with pv magazine about the role of technologies such as PERC cells and his efforts to advance non-toxic thin film semiconductors for the tandem cells of the future.

While near neighbours, the electricity generation of the countries of Southeast Asia couldn’t be further apart. Indonesia burns locally mined coal, Malaysia has reserves of oil and gas, while populous Singapore, Vietnam, and the Philippines, depend on fossil fuel imports. They could all benefit from increased solar imports, but higher grid capacities and interconnection are key for an opportunity to unlock the power of the sun.

Australian research that has seen crystalline silicon (c-Si) PV technology takes its place in the mainstream of the global energy industry has been recognised by picking up Finland’s top technology award. The €1 million (AUD 1.55 million) Millennium Technology Prize has been awarded to UNSW Scientia Professor Martin Green, in recognition for his work in developing passivated emitter rear contact (PERC) technology – the mainstay cell of the modern solar industry.

Leading solar researchers from around the world are meeting for the first time in four years in Milan, Italy, for the 8th World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion (WCPEC-8). The first morning has seen prestigious awards bestowed on two scientific leaders and inspirational discussions as to how the “second terawatt” of solar can be installed globally in just a handful of years.

Quick and versatile, batteries are providing a growing number of services to homes, businesses, and on the grid. Electricity network operators are beginning to adopt grid-scale batteries, with the initial applications potentially opening the way for renewable energy to flow more freely and across larger distances than ever before.

While many solar manufacturers are as yet undecided about which PV cell technology they will choose for their next high efficiency expansions, for Singapore-based REC, the future is HJT. pv magazine spoke to Cemil Seber, the managing director at REC Solar EMEA GmbH at the Intersolar Europe 2022 trade show, to dig deeper into these manufacturing plans.

After a decade of under-delivering on its potential, there are changes afoot in Southeast Asia’s renewable energy development, says Assaad W. Razzouk, the CEO of Singapore-based developer Gurin Energy. Razzouk points to success stories in the region and notes that political will and clear regulations for developers are needed.