Researchers from Western Australia’s Curtin University and Chinese module manufacturer Longi were part of an international team seeking silicon material savings and efficiency gains in the development of heterojunction PV devices. The cell achieved a certified power conversion efficiency of 26.06% with a thickness of 57 μm, with Germany’s Institute for Solar Energy Research confirming the result.

Tandem PV has secured capital to advance its four-terminal perovskite-silicon tandem module technology and move closer to first manufacturing. The company claims its products maintain 80% of the initial performance after 25 years.

A team of scientists at Germany’s Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen Nürnberg has set an efficiency record of 14.46% for an organic PV module. The performance was certified by Germany’s Fraunhofer Institue for Solar Energy’s PV calibration laboratory.

First Solar and its cadmium telluride (CdTe) technology dominate thin-film solar in the mainstream market. Valerie Thompson looks at the US-based business and the future of thin-film PV technology.

A team of Dutch university students under the banner Top Dutch Solar Racing has installed perovskite silicon tandem cells in its entry in the 16th edition of Bridgestone World Solar Challenge. The upcoming race is a six-day, 3,000km expedition across Australia, from Darwin to Adelaide.

Spanish researchers claim to have established new measurement methods to assess the performance degradation of PV modules without the need for removing and reinstalling the tested PV modules from their operating positions. The new approach is claimed to increase productivity in PV plant quality control activities.

Encouraged by lab results and a feasibility study, Swedish startup, Green14, in collaboration with Sweden’s Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) plans to build a pilot-scale reactor to make solar grade silicon with a hydrogen plasma process. The company sees the pilot as a step towards using a more sustainable method to produce solar grade silicon for the PV industry at its own gigawatt-scale plant.

Researchers from Germany’s Fraunhofer ISE developed new techniques to reduce silver consumption in tandem perovskite silicon solar cells and heterojunction silicon PV devices. The new processes relate to cell metallisation and module interconnection.

Japanese electronics giant, Toshiba, is continuing to improve the performance of its perovskite solar cell technology.

Chinese battery industry heavyweight Contemporary Amperex Technology has unveiled a new electric vehicle battery that reportedly enables long-range driving on a fast, 10-minute charge. It expects mass production to begin by the end of this year, and vehicles equipped with the battery to be available in the first quarter of 2024.