Research

A new report from the International Energy Agency’s Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme presents a suite of strategic recommendations aimed at taking building integrated photovoltaics from niche market to mainstream.

Haven’t we been here before? The polysilicon industry is shifting from shortage to oversupply but a few things are different from market cycles of the past, as Bernreuter Research founder Johannes Bernreuter explains.

A research group in Spain has demonstrated the technical feasibility of using repaired solar modules with satisfying results. However it warned that there is an urgent need to define a protocol for evaluating the features of a “viable” repaired panel.

Perovskites remain a great hope for the future of the solar industry, once the possibilities of tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) and heterojunction PV have been exhausted. A look at the latest perovskite research shows that industry optimism is built on a strong foundation.

A recent analysis shows that renewable energy could partially replace diesel fuel to power instruments and provide heat at the South Pole. A team of researchers has proposed a solar, wind and battery energy storage hybrid system that could reduce diesel consumption by 95% and save approximately $86 million over 15 years, after an initial investment of about $14.5 million.

Tests conducted by Canadian researchers at the NREL’s testing field in the United States have shown that ground reflectors based on high-density polyethylene can significantly increase bifacial PV plant performance. They stressed the profitability of this technology is strictly dependent on the location and warned about combining it with inverter clipping.

A new mobile power generator that combines solar and renewable hydrogen to provide zero-emissions power for remote and off-grid applications has been unveiled by Victorian startup H2PowerBox.

Technology that promises to transform waste carbon into battery-grade graphite in less than 10 seconds is among the initiatives being backed by a multi-million-dollar venture fund established by Western Australia’s Curtin University.

An ‘Australian first’ demonstration of aggregated flexible demand in residential settings will be rolled out in South Australia with the state’s principle electricity distributor to deliver smart energy upgrades for 500 households as part of a pilot program that aims to coordinate power usage to better support the grid.

A team of Australian researchers has developed multi-stage algorithms they say can remotely detect and accurately diagnose underperforming solar panels in residential and commercial PV systems.