Technology and R&D

Under the Cooperative Research Center Program 4th Selection Round, the Australian Federal Government will extend a grant for a smart home energy management system. Other awarded green projects involve an energy storage technology alternative for lithium-ion batteries and innovative generation of low cost, zero-emission, reliable electricity.

A funding agreement has been signed between Australian solar cell producer Greatcell and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, which pledged to allocate $6 million to underpin commercial development of perovskite solar cells.

A paper published by consultancy DNV GL forecasts major growth in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) applications within renewable energy, and outlines the risks and opportunities of such technologies.

European research group Solliance has announced new conversion efficiencies of 13.5% (cell) and 12.2% (module) for its perovskite based PV technology. The group states that the records were achieved in a factory setting, using an industrially scalable roll to roll process.

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have created a solar cell using colloidal quantum dots, which achieved 13.4% conversion efficiency – a new world record for this emerging technology.

Dr. Brett Hallam of the University of New South Wales’ (UNSW) School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy engineering has been awarded a prestigious State Premier’s Prize for Science and Engineering.

Germany’s Fraunhofer ISE CalLab has confirmed that China’s Longi Green Energy Technology has achieved a record 22.71% conversion efficiency with its monocrystalline passivated emitter rear contact (PERC) solar cells.

Dutch solar-powered car, with an average speed of 69 km/h and a carrying capacity of up to five people, has been hailed as the future of solar powered cars after competing in the World Solar Challenge.

Under a non-exclusive Memorandum of Understanding with JinkoSolar, Greatcell noted it would make available developmental perovskite cells for further evaluation.

Several of Australia’s top universities are working together on gaining a better understanding of excitons. The Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science is a partnership led by the University of Melbourne alongside other top Australian universities and organizations, and consists of a team with a broad range of expertise in physics, chemistry, mathematics, engineering and other disciplines.