Sustainability

New research suggests we might be able to rethink the type of silicon needed to make high-efficiency solar cells, say researchers from the CSIRO, UNSW and Oxford University.

The ‘cradle-to-cradle’ certification is considered a globally recognised holistic product quality standard. The assessment is made for five categories: material health, recyclability of materials, energy management and CO2 emissions, water management and social responsibility

The 2022 pv magazine Roundtables Europe focused on decarbonization throughout the continent. Linking sustainability to financial performance is a big part of this goal, as the second session, “Sustainability in action, raising the corporate bar,” attested to. During the panel discussion, four experts discussed end of life, circularity, material supply, project development, and the social community, as we approach terawatt solar scale.

The introduction of the Federal Government’s climate change bill to parliament has been welcomed with business and industry groups predicting the legislation will unlock hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of export opportunities and investments in renewable energy, transmission and storage across Australia.

Solar manufacturer Maxeon Solar Technologies has teamed with Adelaide-headquartered solar panel collection and recycling company Reclaim PV Recycling to recover and recycle SunPower branded solar panels in Australia.

Energy efficient homes, like those with solar panels, fetch, on average, a premium of over 17% in Australia – though that figure grows to 28.9% in Queensland and 24% in Victoria, according to a report from real estate company Domain.

India will see a cumulative demand for around 600 GWh of lithium-ion batteries from 2021 to 2030 across all segments. The recycling volume coming from the deployment of these batteries will be 125 GWh by 2030.

Former Australian prime minister Malcom Turnbull has joined the advisory board of resurrected American concentrated solar thermal energy company GlassPoint as it looks to target mining and manufacturing companies with its clean energy technology.

An international research team has developed a new methodology to increase levels of pollination at ground-mounted solar plants. It involves the development of new vegetated land cover below and around solar parks.

Researchers at Melbourne’s Deakin University have discovered a novel way to separate, store and transport large amounts of gas. The method, they say, is efficient, affordable and creates no waste – carrying huge implications for the burgeoning green hydrogen industry and for the energy transition at large.