Module manufacturer tips China ruling to have major bearing on Australian market
The Australian arm of South Korean solar technology giant Hanwha Q-Cells has applauded the decision by the Chinese Patent Office to uphold the validity of the company’s intellectual property rights on key technology.
Carbon nanotubes in search of a solar niche
A group of German scientists has analyzed the possible trajectory of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in photovoltaic research and industry and has suggested a roadmap to bring this technology closer to mass production. Despite a large number of challenges, the academics predicted a brilliant future for CNTs in PV applications, explaining that the barriers to their adoption are constantly being reduced.
Vast array of global banks revealed as green financiers of 460 MW Western Downs Green Power Hub
Neoen announced last month that it had completed the financing of its 460 MW Western Downs Green Power Hub, but today it has been revealed that said green finance came about through a wide reaching international effort, including seven global banks, a salutary sign that green finance is accelerating as fossil fuel divestment continues.
UNSW to lead Australian-German green hydrogen trade feasibility consortium
The University of New South Wales will lead a consortium of Australian and German researchers and industrial partners in a feasibility study to tease out and provide solutions for the obstacles for the trade of green hydrogen from Australia to Germany.
SMA swings to profit in first three quarters of 2020
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, the photovoltaic inverter maker was able to significantly increase its turnover and sales compared to the previous year.
Major economies should divert fossil fuel Covid-recovery cash to clean energy before it’s too late
A report by Finnish company Wärtsilä has estimated the potential impact if every dollar committed to a non-renewables energy sector recovery was instead funnelled to clean power.
Fraunhofer to develop battery inverter for whole-area UPS and renewables integration
Industrial and academic partners are developing a battery inverter which can be grid connected under normal operation but can also use nearby renewables generators to form an island grid, for whole-area uninterrupted power supply.
Update of the ITRPV roadmap shows three wafer formats will prevail
In an update to its International Technology Roadmap for Photovoltaics, the German engineering association the VDMA said that solar module sizes of up to 4.0m² may be brought to mass production in the future.
Agrivoltaic project with vertically mounted bifacial panels goes online in Germany
German developer Next2Sun has completed a 4.1 MW solar plant built with roughly 11,000 bifacial panels provided by Chinese manufacturer Jolywood.
An optimistic – but realistic – perspective for sodium batteries
International researchers have analysed the potential of sodium-based energy storage and found recent technical advances have arrived faster than those for the lithium-ion batteries which have been studied for three decades. Issues remain, however, before sodium constitutes a complementary option to lithium.
