Research

As bifacial modules proliferate, estimations of albedo are becoming more important and with developers not prepared to install weather stations to assess solar resource, a popular option has become third-party, on-site measurements over periods as short as a day. Is this an acceptable compromise between costly on-site measuring and less accurate satellite data? Everoze’s Stefan Mau discusses the potential benefits and limitations of this approach.

A new report published by the CSIRO says Australia’s research into solar recycling is second in the world, outside China, but suggests the establishment of mid-stream activities such as the production of metallurgical silicon and polysilicon have big potential.

Larger wafer and module sizes have had a profound influence on module power output in recent years but standardisation appears to have taken hold, with no further increases evident in module data, according to Molly Morgan, a senior research analyst at Exawatt, which is now part of the CRU Group.

A German research team is conducting practical tests to see how solar modules with integrated radio technology can be linked to form an overall network. The “communicative” panels should represent a simple and cost-effective solution for monitoring and controlling small-scale photovoltaic systems.

A review of indoor PV cell technologies by an international research team delves into recent progress, characterisation, and design strategies used to develop highly efficient cells. The study presents 250 commercial and laboratory devices, as well as applications and performance reporting.

The IEA Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme’s (IEA-PVPS) latest factsheet covers bifacial PV modules and advanced tracking systems. It says a combination of bifacial modules with single-axis tracking could increase energy output by up to 35%.

Researchers at the University of New South Wales will look to develop a redesigned PV panel that allows for easier recycling having secured $5 million in federal government funding to help transform Australia’s solar panel recycling industry.

The development of a custom control program that allows for the autonomous management of the sub-systems that make up a hybrid solar and green hydrogen microgrid helping to power the Western Australian town of Denham is among the key lessons outlined in a new report released by the state government.

The research group led by University of New South Wales Scientia Professor Martin Green has published Version 64 of the solar cell efficiency tables. There are 19 new results reported in the new version.

A Queensland University of Technology project has been awarded almost $600,000 in federal funding to develop production processes to transform Australian resources into perovskite precursor to be used in the manufacture of next generation solar cells.