Technology and R&D

Defending Belgian champion Innoptus is on track early to secure a third consecutive win in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, edging ahead of their rivals after day two of the 3,000-kilometre race across the Australian Outback.

Waaree Energies has launched flexible solar modules up to 70% lighter and under 3.5 mm thick. The panels can be bonded directly to surfaces without mounting penetrations, suitable for sites where drilling or heavy support structures are impractical.

Dutch team Brunel has taken the early lead in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, opening a narrow gap over compatriot Solar Team Twente after the first day of the 3,000-kilometre car race from Darwin to Adelaide.

Reigning world solar challenge champions, the University of New South Wales Sunswift Racing team, have their eyes on the prize for top spot on the podium when the 3,000 kilometre event gets underway in Darwin on Sunday, 24 August, 2025.

The Belgium-based company, AGC Automotive, has announced its panorama-style solar roof for passenger cars is ready for mass production, with the glass-glass design featuring high-efficiency back contact solar cells and a uniform full black appearance.

Sydney-headquartered solar wholesaler and distributor OSW has secured $8.5 million in strategic funding from China-headquartered clean energy venture capital firm SparkEdge Capital.

International researchers have included an interlocked self-assembled monolayer in perovskite indoor PV to enhance its stability and durability, testing the novel structure through fabricating cells, mini modules, and a prototype device of an electronic price tag, and which was found to exhibit a lifetime approaching 6,000 hours.

A Sydney start-up working to get its liquid hydrogen-powered, long-range plane into commercial operation has landed $3 million in federal government funding to further develop the technology and showcase its full potential in real-world environments.

Chinese researchers, led by a research team from PV Technology Centre of Tongwei Co., Ltd, used a sequential annealing process in the fabrication of tandem solar cells, featuring a wide bandgap perovskite top cell on a fully-textured commercial crystalline silicon heterojunction bottom cell. The resulting device had a certified power conversion efficiency of 31.4%, outperforming a 29.43%-efficient control cell.

New South Wales grid operator Transgrid expects renewable energy to expand from 40% of the state’s electricity supply today to 90% in 2035, when it anticipates almost all coal-fired power plants will have closed.