Modules & Upstream Manufacturing

Australian solar panel manufacturer Tindo Solar has announced plans to build the country’s first solar panel gigafactory as it looks to increase its manufacturing capacity to capitalise on a growing domestic market currently dominated by imports.

Researchers at RMIT University’s School of Science, Monash University and Australia’s national science agency, the CSIRO, have harnessed artificial intelligence to accelerate the design and production of perovskite solar cells.

More than 200 entries from across 39 countries made up the field for the pv magazine Awards 2023 and there was genuine innovation on display in all categories. Significant demands have been placed on the solar and energy storage industries in 2023, but that hasn’t stopped the sector from making great leaps in performance. The winners of the pv magazine Awards 2023 serve as shining examples of what can be achieved through a continuous improvement philosophy.

Solar module size standardisation will enhance supply chain efficiencies, boost production, and lower costs, according to the 700W+ Photovoltaic Open Innovation Ecological Alliance, thus accelerating the industrialisation of 700 W or greater modules.

NTU Singapore researchers and startup EtaVolt have presented a high-intensity illumination device that can reportedly “patch up” the holes caused by light and heat in silicon solar cells. The new technique is claimed to reduce solar module degradation by up to five years and to be usable for about 90% of the solar modules available in the market.

Longi has announced the achievement of 27.09% efficiency for its heterojunction back contact solar cell, a result that has been confirmed by Germany’s Institute for Solar Energy Research.

China’s solar industry rebounded in 2023 after years of pandemic-related sluggishness. As the year draws to a close, Vincent Shaw looks back at key highlights of 2023 and considers the prospects for 2024.

TU Deflt researchers made a first attempt to validate reconfigurable solar modules using prototypes in outdoor tests. The panels consist of two or more blocks of solar cells that are connected to a switching matrix and reportedly achieve a 10.2% higher energy yield than conventional shade-resilient modules under partial shading conditions.

The research group led by Professor Martin Green has published Version 63 of the solar cell efficiency tables. There are six new results reported in the new version.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, OPIS, a Dow Jones company, provides a quick look at the main price trends in the global PV industry.