Technology and R&D

Researchers from the University of Sydney have created a new sodium-sulphur battery which they say provides four times the energy capacity of lithium-ion batteries and is far cheaper to produce, providing the potential to dramatically reduce energy storage costs.

The International Energy Agency says that it expects the use of renewables to support global hydrogen production to surge over the next five years. The Netherlands and Denmark, meanwhile, have revealed plans to expand electrolysis capacity.

A free version of SunSPOT, a tool for tailored guidance on the ideal solar and battery set ups, has now been launched. Developed by APVI and UNSW, the online tool allows users to calculate size, cost and potential savings from household renewable systems and is the only such platform offering this information without a sales motive.

University of Queensland spin-off Pure Battery Technologies which has developed a greener, cheaper process for refining critical battery materials has received a $57.45 million (USD 38.5 million) loan from the European Investment Bank to build a demonstration plant in Hagen, west Germany.

PV Hardware has become a leading solar tracker manufacturer in Australia, a market renowned for its growth, opportunities and difficulty. Pv magazine spoke to Alejandro Cantos, director of PVH for the Asia-Pacific region.

Panasonic claims that its new vehicle-to-home system can increase the self-consumption rate of residential solar and storage capacity to 90%.

As part of net-zero targets, New South Wales transmission network owner Transgrid plans to eliminate 100% of emissions from its passenger and commercial fleets by 2030 and to accelerate that strategy will trial a next-generation electric vehicle charger developed by Spanish firm Wallbox Chargers.

A research group has developed a new methodology that shows PV systems located in the same area could have similar distributions of power ramps. Their three-step method could be used for the dimensioning of rooftop arrays and the scheduling of daily operations.

An irrigation community has built a 786 kW floating solar array on a small water reservoir in Murcia, Spain. The facility will provide power for a solar water pumping system, a desalination unit, and the community itself.

A research group led by Professor Martin Green has published Version 61 of the solar cell efficiency tables. The tables include a world record for a silicon heterojunction cell, announced by Longi earlier this week, as well as five more new results.