Technology and R&D

Solar technology manufacturer Trina Solar has developed an all-black version of its Vertex S+ solar module range that has a power output of up to 450 W with maximum efficiency of 22.5%.

Researchers in Singapore have built a triple junction tandem solar cell with an ultrawide-bandgap perovskite absorber integrating cyanate (OCN) ions. The cell surpassed the power conversion efficiencies previously reported for all other perovskite-based triple-junction tandems, as well as single-junction perovskite and silicon solar cells.

Chinese solar manufacturer DAH Solar has launched into the Australian market with an anti-dust solar module with lowered frames, similar to that displayed by Longi just a few metres away during the Smart Energy Expo.

Energizer Solar, the licensee for US battery giant Energizer, has selected Australia as the first market to launch its renewable home ‘ecosystem.’ Including new hybrid inverters, a hybrid battery, solar panels, and soon an EV charger, the product suite has been certified and is landing on Australian shores “as we speak,” Gavin Owen, Energizer Solar’s Head of APAC Sales, told pv magazine Australia.

Chinese solar manufacturer Aiko has introduced an ultra-lightweight 8.8kg module to the Australian market. Aiko has swapped solar glass for high chemical plastic, affording the 450W ‘Air Series’ module its light weight.

Chinese solar manufacturer Longi has launched a new ‘anti-dust’ module. The feature rests on its design where the frame sit flush with the glass on the short side, allowing water to wash off unimpeded.

Printed flexible solar cell technology developed by Australia’s national science agency has been successfully launched into space as part of billionaire Elon Musk’s Space X’s Transporter-10 mission.

Leapton says its new panels have a temperature coefficient of -0.30% per C and an efficiency of up to 22.65%. They come with a 30-year power output guarantee for 87.4% of the initial yield.

The International Technology Roadmap for Photovoltaics (ITRPV) helps to predict future solar cell and module technology trends and is influential in directing research funding and technology investment. Scientists in Australia and the United Kingdom have analyzed ITRPV predictions over the past decade, highlighting the difficulties of forecasting PV trends.

Researchers from Western Australia’s Curtin University and Chinese module manufacturer Longi were part of an international team seeking silicon material savings and efficiency gains in the development of heterojunction PV devices. The cell achieved a certified power conversion efficiency of 26.06% with a thickness of 57 μm, with Germany’s Institute for Solar Energy Research confirming the result.