Technology

Spanish energy giants Repsol and Enagás are planning to build an electrolyser based on photoelectrocatalysis at an industrial complex owned by the oil company in Puertollano in 2024. The device receives direct solar radiation and with a photoactive material it generates the electrical charges that cause the separation of the water molecule into hydrogen and oxygen.

The performance of the solar cell contacts can be improved with laser-assisted current treatment. The process does not damage the solar cells but only optimises faulty semiconductor-metal contacts.

California-based Sakuú Corp. has started work on a 2.5 MWh per year pilot facility to produce 3D-printed solid-state battery tech.

The panel is based on 14.9%-efficient organic PV cells with a surface of 1.1 cm2 that the same research group unveiled in September 2020. The solar cells were interconnected using laser structuring.

Energy Vault secured US$100 million (AU$137 million) in Series C funding for its EVx tower, which stores gravitational potential energy for grid dispatch.

Photon Energy reported raised revenue from sales of electricity in the second quarter of the year, compared with 12 months earlier, but said grid hold-ups at 14.6 MW of solar projects Down Under had affected performance.

A parliamentary inquiry has been told Australia’s ageing transmission network “urgently” needs upgrading to deliver new solar PV and wind power to cities as the nation’s transition to renewable energy generation continues to accelerate.

The 3 kW inverter has an efficiency of 95% and features a surge power of 9000 VA. According to the manufacturer, the device is compatible with mainstream lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries.

The Energy Security Board’s market reforms have come under fresh scrutiny after ministers met last week under a veil of secrecy, apparently stirring deep rifts between federal and state ministers and other stakeholders. While it remains unclear what the Board’s proposed capacity market, dubbed by some as ‘coal-keeper’, might look like, Dan Cass, who leads energy policy at the Australia Institute, told pv magazine Australia as long as Angus Taylor isn’t steering, he’s optimistic that state governments and the ESB could work towards a reasonable outcome.

A German research team has developed a photovoltaic-electrochemical device for alkaline water electrolysis that can be linked to battery storage. The proposed system configuration can not only smoothen out the PV power fluctuations and facilitate power coupling, but also improve solar to hydrogen efficiency.