Two top solar innovators honoured at national engineering awards
Two UNSW affiliated solar engineers have been honoured as some of the country’s most innovative engineering minds at the annual Engineering Australia award ceremony this week for their work on ground-breaking solar solutions.
‘Turbocharging’ silicon PV: MIT scientists scratch the surface of singlet exciton fission
Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a device they say could “turbocharge” a single-junction silicon PV cell, pushing the technology beyond its theoretical limit to efficiencies of 35% and higher.
Researchers develop method to synthesize graphene from eucalyptus bark
A team of Australian and Indian researchers has developed a method to synthesize soluble graphene in a cost-effective and eco-friendly way from one of Australia’s most abundant resources, gum trees.
JinkoSolar records 469.3 W monocrystalline module
JinkoSolar today announced that it has set a new efficiency record for a monocrystalline PERC PV cell at 24.38%, and produced a module that achieved 469.3 W power in testing conducted by TÜV Rheinland. The Chinese module manufacturer also equalled a record claimed just last week by Trina Solar, of 24.58% conversion efficiency for an n-type monocrystalline cell.
Global electric car fleet may reach 250 million by 2030
The International Energy Agency says more than 2 million electric vehicles hit the road last year, to take the total to more than 5 million. The agency has stressed the importance of public policy, charging infrastructure and a fall in costs for continued EV uptake, and says up to 43 million EVs could be sold in 2030.
Scientists cast light on how potassium can fix perovskite cells
Doping perovskite solar cells with potassium is said to eliminate interface trapping defects and mobile ion migration. ‘Hysteresis suppression’ is key for more efficient cells based on the promising material.
LONGi launches new high-powered half-cut bifacial module
The Hi-MO 4 offers power ratings up to 430 watts, with module efficiencies as high as 19.2%, as the latest high-powered module to hit the floor at Intersolar Europe.
Monash researchers achieve green hydrogen breakthrough
A research team from Monash University has introduced an intrinsically stable, ‘self-healing’ catalytic system based on earth abundant elements to promote the water electrolysis process in a strongly acidic environment and elevated temperatures.
How to profitably up-cycle 80 million tonnes of PV waste by 2050
New research by UNSW examines the economic barriers, the technologies and opportunities in recycling end-of-life silicon photovoltaic modules for profit.
Carnegie gets $5 million lifeline, bids for liquidated microgrid arm EMC revealed
Following Carnegie Clean Energy’s voluntary administration, the administrators have revealed the bids its solar microgrid arm managed to attract. Meanwhile, a plan to restructure the company’s core wave power business has been approved by creditors, along with a decision to liquidate the EMC business.
