Research

A group of researchers from the University of New South Wales and Chinese module manufacturer Jolywood has conducted a comprehensive assessment of how laser-assisted firing processes influence the behaviour of TOPCon cells under the thermal conditions encountered during soldering, lamination, and high-temperature stress.

An international research team led by the Australian National University and Chinese module manufacturer Longi has investigated antimony-doped Czochralski-grown silicon ingots as an alternative to phosphorous-doped ingots in the manufacturing of PV wafers and has found they exhibit slightly higher mechanical strength.

An international team of researchers led by engineering consultancy RINA Australia has completed a preliminary techno-economic study on the global potential for offshore floating PV. The results provide project cost benchmarking, country-specific economic assumptions, and a global assessment of offshore solar’s levelised cost of electricity.

Australian researchers developed a high-resolution energy modeling framework to assess how PV and batteries can supply 24/7 electricity to heavy industries, considering cost, grid interaction, and load flexibility. They found that while technology cost reductions help, smart grid integration and flexible industrial operations are far more effective in lowering electricity costs and enabling 100% renewable energy use.

A collaborative project focussing on the development of connected and islandable microgrids within the Australian distribution network has been launched in New South Wales.

Western Power has launched Western Australia’s first distributed energy resources text lab at it’s South Metro Depot to trial how rooftop solar, batteries, electric vehicles and smart appliances can connect, communicate and interact.

UNSW researchers investigating the impact of electron irradiation on PERC and TOPCon solar cell performance have identified bulk lifetime degradation as main power loss cause. Their work stresses the need for increasing radiation tolerance in commercial space silicon solar cells.

In a new scientific paper, the Chinese solar manufacturer explained that the 27.81%-efficient hybrid interdigitated back-contact cell it unveiled in April is based on passivated tunneling contacts and dielectric passivation layers, while also incorporating both n-type and p-type contacts.

Engineers in the United States have developed a polymer coating they say could be used to protect PV modules, due to its impermeability to gases. The team has demonstrated that a 60-nanometer-thick film can extend the lifetime of a perovskite crystal by several weeks.

Tests conducted by a research team in outdoor environments in Spain and Poland have demonstrated a strong correlation between perovskite solar cell degradation and the combined effects of climatic and operating conditions. The scientists found that open-circuit operation accelerates degradation, whereas operation at the maximum power point and under short-circuit conditions has a lower impact.