Technology

There’s nothing simple about the Australian electricity system in transition. The constantly shifting landscape requires continuous regulatory adjustment to old coal-fired settings. That, too is fraught. One network services provider gives their perspective on the rule change currently under consideration.

Scientists in Germany fabricated an all-manganese flow battery, which they say serves as a proof of concept for the potential of such devices. Their results working with various battery configurations show that cheap, abundant manganese has plenty of potential for flow battery applications; and is worthy of further investigation in the frame of developing sustainable energy storage technologies.

A €4.8 million (AU$7.5 million) EU-funded research project is aiming to develop a process that allows recovering all components of a photovoltaic module.

The smallest of the storage units has a capacity of 4.8 kWh and an output of 1.5 kW. It can be expanded to eight battery modules in steps of 2.4 kWh and has a maximum of 57.6 kWh, and 6 kW, of power.

Scientists in Germany have developed a new process for deposition of silicon dioxide layers during cell production. Without the need for high pressure, flammable gases, or vacuum conditions, the process could lead to cost reductions for cell manufacturers, provided it can be developed and applied in a large-scale production setting.

Spanish mounting system provider Alusín Solar has developed a solution to enable the transit of installers on roofs. It has recently commissioned a production line for this product, which it dubbed Carex.

As the Australian Energy Market Commission rifles through submissions on its reform package proposal, the Commission’s Chief Executive, Benn Barr, tells pv magazine Australia about some of the “profound changes” which have been overlooked and why he thinks two-way pricing is crucial.

Backsheet failures have plagued the industry, causing hefty financial burdens to many asset owners. DuPont has launched a product it says allows for easy repair of modules.

A U.S. scientist has developed a computational framework that assesses how well a hypothetical agrivoltaic project would perform in achieving desired outcomes such as the volume of PV electricity produced, and energy-to-agriculture. The method considers the high-frequency decomposition of solar irradiance into multiple rays and analyzes how these rays are propagated forward in time, to assess multiple reflections and absorption for various system configurations. It also takes into account panel inclination, panel refractive indices, sizes, shapes, heights, and albedo.

Australia’s national science agency, the CSIRO, and the Australian Energy Market Operator have found even when factoring in additional ‘integration’ costs such as storage and new transmission infrastructure, solar and wind continue to be the cheapest sources of new-build electricity generation in Australia.