Technology and R&D

UNSW researchers have found a new approach to photochemical upconversion, which involves converting low light particles into higher-energy light particles. The discovery has potential to unlock innovations in renewable energy, particularly solar, with the team flagging it could raise the efficiency limit of solar devices from 33.7% to 40% or beyond.

Brisbane-based flow battery company, Redflow, has inked $4.4 million a deal with the US Department of Defence to deliver a prototype microgrid at a New York state airbase, with up to 1.4 MWh of zinc-bromide battery storage.

Rystad Energy believes China could be on track for another record year in 2023, with expectations for more than 150 GW of new PV capacity. The Norwegian consultancy says the country could also potentially install 165 GW in 2024 and 170 GW in 2025.

Sodium-ion batteries could diversify the battery supply chain and take the weight off the shoulders of ubiquitous lithium-ion technology. pv magazine sits down with Florian Kogler, head of safety and user experience at Austrian sodium-ion battery business Kite Rise, to discuss the technology’s potential and the company’s development plans for batteries made in Europe.

Japanese company IHI Corporation, which specialises in green ammonia technology to decarbonise industry, has joined the consortium of companies developing the green hydrogen hub HyNQ – North Queensland Clean Energy Project.

Tesla has launched the Powerwall 3 battery with an energy capacity of 13.5 kW and continuous on-grid power of 11.5 kW, featuring dimensions of 110 cm x 61 cm x 19.3 cm and a weight of 130 kg.

H2FLY claims that a recent three-hour test flight, entirely powered by liquid hydrogen, could lead to sustainable long-range flights fuelled by liquefied, cryogenic hydrogen. Solaris, meanwhile, has started selling hydrogen buses in Italy.

New digital modelling technology has made visible 10 GW of untapped capacity in Australia’s existing electricity networks. “That 10 GW number is probably achievable without any meaningful incremental cost investment,” Neara cofounder Jack Curtis tells pv magazine Australia. “This is something that’s really only come into awareness of policy makers, and even the private sector, in past six months.”

Multiple factors affect the productive lifespan of a residential solar panel. In the first part of this series, we look at the solar panels themselves.

REC has developed a new series of heterojunction solar panels with efficiencies up to 22.6% and an operating temperature coefficient of -0.24% per degree Celsius.