World

Should the industry be alarmed at the potential degradation susceptibility of tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar cells? Or are the problems easily addressed and more a reflection of rushed-to-market products? pv magazine contributor and consultant Götz Fischbeck reports.

Researchers from Germany’s Fraunhofer ISE developed new techniques to reduce silver consumption in tandem perovskite silicon solar cells and heterojunction silicon PV devices. The new processes relate to cell metallisation and module interconnection.

As the energy storage trend unfolds, stories litter the media landscape about lithium-ion batteries catching fire, and even exploding. It’s a valid concern, and the time for consumers to understand a basic truth about lithium-ion batteries is long past due.

Australia’s solar market and pricing has been shaken up in recent months with the entrance of Tongwei Solar. Compounding this is the global free fall in panel pricing, which solar analyst Warwick Johnston says is yet to properly hit Australia. “There’s super cheap panels that are coming through and everyone will have to adjust their prices accordingly,” he says.

Solar module prices have never fallen so sharply in such a short period of time. One reason for this is the “PV module glut” in warehouses in Europe, according to pvXchange’s Martin Schachinger.

The International Energy Agency has warned that lagging policy support, rising costs, and supply chain disruptions threaten the profitability of low-emission hydrogen, meanwhile the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has identified hydrogen seeps in South Australia.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, OPIS, a Dow Jones company, provides a quick look at the main price trends in the global PV industry.

PV manufacturers, developers, and component suppliers have spent years negotiating a bewildering array of wafer and panel formats but recent developments in China hold the promise of long-awaited standardisation, as Vincent Shaw reports.

The rise of cost-effective TOPCon cell technology last year led to a ‘surge’ in production demand for solar n-type cell technology, with leading industry analysts TrendForce prophesying PERC cell capacities ‘may’ be phased out in two to three years. The company’s experts, however, warn that oversupply for p-type cells and modules may increase the price gap between n-type and p-type products in the upcoming months.

Hitachi Energy has delivered a modular solution to electrify a 20 MW electrolyser to produce hydrogen to heat steel before rolling, while Enapter has unveiled its AEM electrolysers for industrial and refuelling pilot projects.