Manufacturing

The Finniss Lithium Project will be the first-ever lithium mine to be built outside of Western Australia.

Scientists in Germany have developed a “heavy duty” test to provide insight into the long term effects of potential induced degradation in PV modules. The tests go well beyond those established by IEC standards and seek to guide manufacturers and investors on the best choice of materials – encapsulants in particular – when it comes to long term PID resistance.

France’s Sunbooster has developed a technology to cool down solar modules when their ambient temperature exceeds 25 C. The solution features a set of pipes that spread a thin film of water onto the glass surface of the panels in rooftop PV systems and ground-mounted plants. The cooling systems collect the water from rainwater tanks and then recycle, filter and store it again. The company claims the technology can facilitate an annual increase in power generation of between 8% and 12%.

Before Growatt won the Top Brand PV Seal award, back when “quarantine” was a foreign concept and foreign lands familiar, pv magazine took its annual China Road Trip to Shenzen to visit Growatt and learn about the company supplying solutions to 10% of Australian residential PV installs.

The Asian Development Bank says developing countries in Asia and the Pacific should consider developing their own solar industry supply chains as the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed their over-reliance on China to carry through the energy transition.

The California-based energy technology company has expanded its partnership with Rexel Group to include Australia-wide distribution.

The ‘best conversion performance in the world in a dark room’ is how the developers of a new organic PV device have described it. Such cells could be used as a wireless source of energy for internet of things applications or in gadgets such as temperature-humidity and motion sensors.

A slump in demand would weigh more heavily on the storage industry than a temporary production shutdown and IHS Markit analysts say that is where the risk lies, rather than with a temporary shortage of battery cells. A similar prediction has been made for the PV market.

The REC Group’s novel Alpha 72 module has tested through the roof and is looking to come in on the roof of the market, literally. pv magazine Australia sat down with REC’s Paul Scerri to lay the module out.

Tesla’s Nevada operation is still open for business, though. The EV and battery maker has assured the market its cash position is strong enough to weather an “extended period of uncertainty”.