Research

Solar fences are beginning to gain traction in European and North American markets and now data provided by energy software service provider Gridcog suggests that vertical bifacial solar could be technically and economically viable in Australia.

With global irradiance above average in Australia, Southeast Asia and Europe, and stable in the United States, solar data provider Solargis says stakeholders should focus on the stability of power grids, while navigating solar financing complexities in developing economies and supply chain capacities in 2024.

Researchers from The University of New South Wales have developed a “scalable solution” they say overcomes the rechargeability challenges associated with aqueous zinc battery technology, potentially redefining energy storage for homes and grids.

Researchers at RMIT University’s School of Science, Monash University and Australia’s national science agency, the CSIRO, have harnessed artificial intelligence to accelerate the design and production of perovskite solar cells.

Longi has announced the achievement of 27.09% efficiency for its heterojunction back contact solar cell, a result that has been confirmed by Germany’s Institute for Solar Energy Research.

A team of scientists at Germany’s Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen Nürnberg has set an efficiency record of 14.46% for an organic PV module. The performance was certified by Germany’s Fraunhofer Institue for Solar Energy’s PV calibration laboratory.

Smart metering services provider Intellihub is seeking to develop digital infrastructure that will enable the orchestration of more than 150,000 otherwise scattered consumer energy generation and storage devices, helping to create more than 510 MW of flexible energy demand.

Scientists in Australia have combined Monte Carlo Ray Trace (MCRT) techniques and electrical modelling to assess the potential energy gains of bifacial rooftop PV systems compared to monofacial arrays. They found that rooftop reflectivity is a key factor in increasing a bifacial PV system performance, and that system and module design should also be carefully considered.

Smoke from wildfires significantly effects solar output, researchers from UNSW have found. Specifically, Australia’s Black Summer in 2019 – 2020 caused energy losses from residential and utility PV systems estimated between 175 to 35 GWh, equating to a worst-case financial loss of around $6.1 to $29 million.

TU Deflt researchers made a first attempt to validate reconfigurable solar modules using prototypes in outdoor tests. The panels consist of two or more blocks of solar cells that are connected to a switching matrix and reportedly achieve a 10.2% higher energy yield than conventional shade-resilient modules under partial shading conditions.