Germany

As PV manufacturing lines continue to get larger, keeping track of the measurement data that’s vital for quality and process control becomes an ever more herculean task. Flashing equipment supplier h.a.l.m. has developed a software solution that keeps all of this data in one place and provides operators with a real-time view of production line performance and quality. pv magazine caught up with Managing Director Michael Meixner to discuss the latest on big data in PV manufacturing.

A German PV system owner has developed a simple solution intended at preventing the birds from nesting under the modules.

Production on the new module, called Q.Tron, is expected to begin this year. The product is described as an evolution of the company’s Q.antum cell technology.

The most powerful of the two products has a power output of up to 380 W and an efficiency of 20.4%. For both panels, the temperature coefficient is -0.37%. The German manufacturer said the modules are produced at its manufacturing facility in Dresden.

Graphite’s pivotal role in electric-vehicle battery technology is coming under increasing scrutiny. Graphite is almost exclusively produced in China, and while the processing of the mineral poses serious environmental issues, the alternatives appear costly. Ian Morse looks at what’s next for critical graphite supplies.

Hydrogen and hydrogen-based fuels will not be able to move forward fast enough to replace fossil fuels and tackle climate change, according to a German-Swiss research team that claims direct electrification alternatives are cheaper and easier to implement. The scientists cite too-high prices, short-term scarcity and long-term uncertainty, as the main reasons for their skepticism, which has caused a stir in academic circles.

German scientists have proposed a new design for stacks used in redox flow batteries. Through a powder-to-roll process, a device that weighs 80% less than a conventional stack was fabricated.

Researchers in Germany claim to have overcome the primary hurdle in the development of large-area perovskite PV modules – scaling up from the cell to the module level. They achieved an efficiency of up to 16.6% on a module surface of ​​more than 50 centimetres squared, and 18% on a module with an area of 4 centimetres squared.

Germany’s first offshore hydrogen pipeline is being planned by multiple partnering companies and is expected to be commissioned in 2035. Meanwhile, Siemens is planning hydrogen projects in a 5 MW to 50 MW range for industrial applications and a consortium of conglomerates is maintaining pressure on EU to develop green hydrogen.

The database brings together photovoltaic performance data and meteorological values from PV systems located in all climate zones. It is being built by an international consortium including the Fraunhofer Centre for Silicon Photovoltaics CSP, and the Anhalt University of Applied Sciences.