Technology

Scientists have quantified the impact of wildfires on the availability of direct normal irradiance and global horizontal irradiance at the state, regional, and national levels in the United States. They have found that direct irradiance is more sensitive to smoke than the PV-relevant global horizontal irradiance.

An international study led by Flinders University in Adelaide has advanced nano-scale chemistry to further develop sustainable and efficient generation of hydrogen from water using solar power.

Independent testing of JinkoSolar’s N-type TOPCon-based perovskite tandem solar cell has achieved a conversion efficiency of 33.84%, surpassing the company’s previous record of 33.24%,

A Western Australia-based hybrid solar and battery system developer has demonstrated its hybrid units deployed in remote locations for businesses and communities can potentially replace around 150 litres of diesel per day.

In five key trends, pv magazine looks back over a year that saw PV module prices fall lower than many thought possible, while demand was restrained by grid congestion, among other challenges. Energy storage has had a strong year and geopolitics is seeing solar and battery manufacturing enter new regions as competition drives technical innovation.

South Australian-based space technology company Fleet Space has developed an intelligent platform in communication with a low orbit satellite, that can identify critical minerals and accelerate their extraction for use in clean energy technology.

The commercial arm of Transgrid, Lumea, will connect one of New South Wales’ largest solar farms to the grid, providing a major boost to the state’s transition to renewables with enough clean energy to power nearly a quarter of a million homes.

The solar industry has dragged its heels on the issue of silver-dependence for cell metallisation, but China’s Jiangsu Xianghuan Technology (JXTC) is moving into commercial production with a copper plating process that overcomes many of the challenges that have limited interest from cell manufacturers.

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation has committed up to $1.9 billion to back developer Transgrid in delivery of tranmissions projects HumeLink and the New South Wales side of the Victoria-NSW Interconnector.

Allegro Energy has received a $2.1 million grant from the New South Wales government to create a sustainable, water-based battery prototype, made primarily from locally manufactured components and capable of storing energy for more than 10 hours.