Technology and R&D

Italian start-up Genius Watter has developed a solar desalination solution that is claimed to be particularly suitable for remote areas with no connection to grid electricity. The system is able to produce up to 1,000 cubic meters of potable water per day at an opex of €0.20 per cubic meter.

Queensland-based Hypersonix Launch Systems has announced a partnership with BOC and its Bulwer Island Renewable Hydrogen Production and Refuelling pilot project. The deal will see Hypersonix use green hydrogen produced by solar electrolysis as rocket fuel to launch re-useable satellites into lower earth orbit.

Hydrogen is heating up – not only here in Australia, but globally. This week has seen a flurry of news from the U.K. to South Africa, New Dehli to Switzerland. Pv magazine’s roundup of the latest hydrogen news and movements.

The database brings together photovoltaic performance data and meteorological values from PV systems located in all climate zones. It is being built by an international consortium including the Fraunhofer Centre for Silicon Photovoltaics CSP, and the Anhalt University of Applied Sciences.

Australia’s federal government has pledged a further $275.5 million to develop regional hydrogen hubs and $263.7 million for carbon capture and storage technology in a pre-budget announcement ahead of the climate summit on Thursday.

Researchers in the US ascertained that the partial shading provided by solar parks creates a microclimate that favours the abundant growth of more varied flowers and pollinators. They also found that partial shading increases bloom abundance by delaying bloom timing, increasing forage for pollinators during the hot and dry late season.

New research from Singapore has found that gas pipelines for the onshore transport of green hydrogen and the cables for the transport of electricity to produce it at a distant location have similar costs at a 4000 km transmission distance. For longer distances, gas pipelines were found to be cheaper than cables, although the electric lines are said to benefit from scaling up and higher utilisation. For both options, however, a currently too high hydrogen LCOE remains the biggest barrier to overcome.

The US cadmium telluride thin-film module maker said its Series 6 CuRe panels are able to retain 92% of its performance at the end of the 30-year warranty. The improved stability of the product was achieved by eliminating copper and placing Group V elements such as antimony or arsenic onto the tellurium crystal sites.

The company being acquired, Azur Space, produces triple-junction space solar cells with an average efficiency of up to 30% and is planning to develop ultra-thin solar cells with up to 35%.

The cell reached 26.0% efficiency and showed open-circuit voltage values of up to 732 mV. It was fabricated with a back junction (BJ) design with a full-area p-n-junction at the back surface.