Technology and R&D

Brisbane-based Li-S Energy has developed a 20-layer battery cell utilising semi-solid state lithium sulfur battery technology. The company claims the new cell displays nearly double the gravimetric energy density and a comparable volumetric energy density to lithium-ion cells.

A Dutch research group has used a series of techniques from the automotive industry to develop a novel methodology to repair glass in double-glass solar panels. Their experimental work represents the step towards transforming glass-damaged solar panels from waste into valuable products.

Australia’s largest rail freight operator Aurizon has contracted Progress Rail to convert one of its diesel locomotives to full battery electric operation, paving the way for the greening of its freight-haul rail fleet.

Despite their promise, adoption rates of Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) in Australia have been underwhelming. Head of Renewable Energy Finance at Plenti, Louis Edwards, says the issue stems from VPP operator’s overlooking their point of sale. “It’s too much risk the installer takes and they don’t do it,” he tells pv magazine Australia.

About 70 Katahdin breed sheep were dropped off at the Oberlin College campus in Ohio last week. They will graze through mid-June, stomping grass and weeding the solar field in a move aimed at reducing operations and maintenance costs.

An international research team in China has used Czochralski n-type c-Si wafers from China-based Sichuan Yongxiang to build textured wafers with a thickness ranging from 65 μm to 55 μm. They have used the wafers in heterojunction solar cells ton hit efficiencies close to those of devices cells based on conventional wafers.

GemLife, which describes itself as “luxury resort living for the over-50s,” has set up its own Virtual Power Plant (VPP), and is set to invest $75 million in coming years to rollout the VPPs across more than 10,000 homes in its property portfolio on Australia’s east coast.

Queensland flow battery company, Redflow, has commissioned a 30 kWh zinc-bromine flow battery for the Brisbane City Council.

Australia’s national science agency will seek to the address some of the challenges associated with storing and transporting hydrogen by developing an off-grid, portable hydrogen generator designed to recover the zero-emissions fuel from a liquid carrier at the point of consumption.

Prolux Solutions has developed a redox flow battery with a charging and discharging capacity of 4 kW and 5 kW of peak power. It is designed to be coupled with PV systems in homes with high consumption profiles.