Technology

West Australian natural hydrogen startup H2EX will work with Australia’s national science agency, the CSIRO, to study natural hydrogen systems in South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula, describing the research as a “pivotal first step” for the nascent industry. Natural hydrogen proponents believe projects could deliver some of the world’s cheapest hydrogen quickly and with a minimal footprint.

The novel technique consists of attaching cotton wicks immersed in the water (CWIWs) to the backside photovoltaic module. The water is supplied to cotton wicks from top to bottom by gravity which the scientists said helps the effective absorption of cotton and reduces water consumption.

Research from renowned PV scientist Martin Green and colleagues at UNSW reveals that perovskite solar cells may struggle to deal with reverse-bias caused by uneven shading or other issues likely to appear in the field. Both the reverse-bias itself and resulting build up of heat can cause several of the materials commonly used in perovskite solar cells to degrade, and these issues have received only limited attention in research published to date. Solutions, however, are at hand.

New research from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) predicts cumulative polysilicon demand of 46-87 Mt will be required to achieve 63.4 TW of PV installed by 2050.

A Spanish scientist has developed a system that reportedly produces hydrogen on-site without expensive electrolysis. The prototype utilises a water tank that is initially filled with water, ferrosilicon, and sodium hydroxide.

In other news, German energy company Uniper said it will test a new salt cavern built for hydrogen storage, while Serbia and Hungary signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on renewable hydrogen.

Network operator Transgrid has completed a $236 million upgrade to the Queensland-New South Wales Interconnector to facilitate the increased flow of electricity between the two states and reduce constraints on the New South Wales transmission network.

The panel has an absorption area of 1.96 m2 and a weight of 27 kg per square metre. According to the manufacturer – Swiss start-up TVP Solar – it may be a real booster for thermal output, by combining it with photovoltaics and heat pumps to provide enhanced output per square meter, in particular for low-temperature applications such as district heating.

Australia is setting out to become a global hydrogen superpower – but the standards we’re applying to classify ‘green’ renewable hydrogen are falling well behind our global peers and the expectations of future customers. The heart of the problem is “we’ve separated the characteristics of energy from the energy itself,” Steve Hoy, founder and CEO of power tracing technology company Enosi, tells pv magazine Australia.

South Australia’s 150 MW / 193.5 Hornsdale Power Reserve, more commonly known as the Tesla Big Battery, will now provide inertia services to Australia’s National Electricity Market after securing approval from AEMO. Neoen says it is the first big battery in the world to deliver the service at such a scale.