From pv magazine Global

Researchers led by scientists from Mohammed First University in Morocco explored the use of solar panels equipped with an anti-reflective coating at Green Energy Park, a Benguerir-based test facility located at a site that has favorable solar irradiance reaching 2,239 kWh/m2/year but a harsh climate, with high temperatures, low precipitation, and high level of aerosols.

The experiment involved setting up two commercial modules side-by-side, one with an anti-reflective (AR) coating and the other without.

“It is the first study to comprehensively assess the electrical, optical, durability, and economic aspects of AR coatings simultaneously and under real, harsh outdoor conditions,” Ahmed Alami Merrouni, corresponding author of the research, told pv magazine, adding that the “unexpected yet significant result” was the “considerable reduction” of 2.7% for the levelized cost of energy (LCOE).

The scientists assessed the electrical performance of the AR-coated PV modules over a 10-month period, carrying out frequent cleaning, and weekly transmittance measurements. Using the results from the field study, the team calculated the effect AR-coated modules would have on financial performance in a large-scale PV plant, using a 40 MW PV power plant as a case study.

“The simulation results unveil that a 40 MW power plant employing standard PV panels yields an annual electricity output of 69 GWh. In contrast, an analogous power plant incorporating ARC-coated panels attains an elevated electricity generation of 72 GWh, signifying a notable 5.5 % enhancement in comparison to conventional panels,” stated the researchers.

“From an economic standpoint, the simulation outcomes reveal an LCOE of 0.037€/kWh for the 40 MWe power plant utilizing non-coated PV modules. Conversely, the LCOE for the same power plant employing ARC modules amounts to 0.0368 €/kWh, showcasing a 2.7 % decrease in electricity production costs,” they added.

Laboratory abrasion tests on AR-coated glass samples were also conducted to determine the impact on optical performance and coating durability.

“Our study found that after 1,500 abrasion cycles, which simulate 29 years of weekly cleaning, the optical properties only decreased by 2.6%. This impressive durability opens the possibility of using dry cleaning methods for PV power plants with this coating, significantly reducing cleaning costs and conserving water,” said Alami Merrouni.

The AR-coated glass samples also demonstrated “good optical performance against soiling”, with soiling losses lower by 3.7 % compared to non-coated samples for the same exposure period, according to the scientists.

Since carrying out the study, feedback from other researchers in the field of solar energy and Moroccan governmental organizations has been positive, according to Alami Merrouni.  “The most highlighted and significant result that attracts attention is the durability of the AR coatings under linear abrasion tests,” he said.

“This feedback underscores the practical benefits and potential for the wide adoption of AR coating solutions, especially in regions like Morocco where, in addition to its high performances, the AR coating may open the possibility of using dry cleaning methods enabling a significant reduction on the cleaning costs and water saving, which is crucial for desert locations,” he concluded.

The research is detailed in the paper “Experimental analysis of Anti-Reflective coating performance in desert Climate: Yield analysis, soiling impact and cleaning durability evaluation,” published in Sustainable energy technologies and assessments.

From pv magazine Global

Student solar car teams from Canada’s Polytechnique Montréal and École de technologie supérieure made it to the podium at the Electrek American Solar Challenge 2024, a distance-based competition for solar cars.

With a multiple occupant vehicle (MOV) named Esteban 11, students from Polytechnique Montréal won first place in the MOV category in both the qualifier circuit race, known as the Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix (FSGP) and in the main race, the Electrek American Solar Challenge, which requires completing a minimum of 1,500 miles (2,400 km).

The Esteban team completed 1,610.3 miles at an average speed of 36.2 mph (58.26 km/h), with an overall score of 73.86. The MOV category is scored on factors beyond the distance covered, such as practicality, amount of external energy used, and whether the 35 mph target average speed was maintained.

The other Montreal team, hailing from École de technologie supérieure, won silver in the single occupant vehicle (SOV) category, completing 2,004.5 miles with the Éclipse XI solar car. The SOV class is scored solely on miles driven. Only in the event of a tie is elapsed time relevant.

This year’s winner of the SOV class was the University of Michigan student team with its Astrum solar car, completing 2,095.5 miles (3,372 km) with an average speed of 37.51 mph.

Esteban 11 by the Polytechnique Montréal student team

The Esteban project spokesperson told pv magazine that the team began competing with a two-seater MOV in 2019. “Switching categories allowed us for more creativity in our design. Being multiple occupants also displays the efficiency of our car. Especially in the event, the broader public gets to learn how the technology evolves,” said the Esteban spokesperson.

The team used a 1218 W solar array with cells from Singapore-based Maxeon and encapsulation by German specialist PV panel manufacturer OPES Solutions. The 4-wheel vehicle weighed 293 kg, measuring 4.92m x 1.8m x 1.04 m. The battery was a 9.2 kWh by China-based BAK Technologies, weighing 47 kg, paired with two 5kW M2096D-3 hub motors from Japan’s Mitsuba in a carbon fiber monocoque.

“One great challenge we had was splitting the battery pack. This allowed us to have a lower center of gravity but complicated the monitoring and protection,” the spokesperson said, adding that a new printed circuit board design adhering to professional standards with features to manage heat effects also made a difference this year.

Éclipse XI by the École de technologie supérieure student team

The Éclipse XI, a 3-wheel design weighing 200 kg, measured 4.5 m x 1.5 m x 1.1 m. It was equipped with a 1000 W solar array spanning 4m2, based on Sunpower Maxeon Gen 3 solar cells. It had a 20 kg 5kWh lithium ion battery by Japanese manufacturer Panasonic.

The Éclipse XI team not only won a silver medal in the American Solar Challenge competition, it also won two awards, an Electrical Design Award, and the Abe Poot Award. The latter is named after an influential figure in the U.S. solar car racing community, that recognizes team spirit of collaboration and cooperation, according to the Éclipse XI team spokesperson.

The Electrical Design Award recognized the performance of the electrical setup. “At FSGP, we were the first team to complete both electrical and battery protection system inspection with all green status. We also proved that our electrical systems were robust and reliable along both races, more than 4500 km without any issue,” the Éclipse team spokesperson told pv magazine.

“For this race, we used a custom-made motor casing with air cooling system to help us climb the most steeped hills along the route,” they said, adding that the team is currently working on an improved maximum power point tracking that will “maximize efficiency across all operating ranges” to be able to reduce overall weight and cost.

The Electrek American Solar Challenge 2024 attracted over 30 student-run teams from the U.S. and Canada. It began on 20 July in Nashville, Tennessee, and ended in Casper, Wyoming, on 27 July. The primary route has 1562.2 total miles to complete and vehicles must average at least 35 mph for the event. There are seven optional loops to earn additional points.

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) used a circular economy framework to determine how to scale, deploy, and design future metal halide perovskite solar panels to be easily recyclable.

As initiatives to commercialize metal halide perovskite (MHP) solar technology are underway, especially efforts to ensure durable performance in the field, NREL researchers initiated a study of sustainability design factors as another important aspect of commercialization.

“Our goal with this perspective paper was to point out that existing technology does not prioritize building products with sustainability and circularity up front. It was not developed specifically to minimize waste or use the lowest energy processing steps,” Joey Luther, the research’s corresponding author, told pv magazine. “However, since PV is inherently a sustainable technology, now is the time to begin to evaluate how we can develop the commercialization of MHPs with sustainability in mind.”

The group performed the evaluation based on a a prototypical single-junction MHP module close to commercial designs, framed with mounting rails in a glass-glass module configuration with polymer encapsulants, and edge sealing typical of silicon and cadmium telluride panels. The individual PV cells are integrated via scribing, and include front glass coated with a transparent conductor, the MHP layer sandwiched between electron and hole transport materials and a back electrode.

In addition, the team drilled down into constituent chemicals, molecules, and materials typically used in perovskite A, B, and X sites.

For all of the above, sustainability aspects were evaluated, such as energy intensity of manufacturing, carbon intensity, rare mineral mining, recyclability, earth abundance, cost, fossil fuel derived, fail-safe encapsulation, health hazards, and flammability among others.

The prototype was further evaluated based on critical material concerns, embodied energy, carbon impacts and circular supply chain processes. The analysis included the frame, rail materials, front and back glass, encapsulation polymers, solvents, electron and hole transport materials, and electrode materials.

In an information-rich table, the team detailed how the eleven “Rs” of circularity for photovoltaics can offer opportunities and advantages within sustainable manufacturing. An adaptation of the “reduce, reuse, recycle” concept, some of the Rs discussed are listed here: refuse fossil fuels and carbon-intensive materials; reduce energy, material, and carbon input, repair or design for repair, reuse, repower, restore, and recover energy.

When it comes to recycling, the researchers noted that ‘recycling’ includes both downcycling to lower-value, or lower-quality, products. They explained that recycling is beneficial when recovered feedstocks replace virgin materials, which require energy-intensive refining. There is room for improvement. For example, PV glass manufacturing is still using virgin sources in new PV glass products and not post-consumer PV glass cullet, they noted.

The team identified five key areas and opportunities to pursue. The first is enhancing MHP module reliability to meet current commercial PV lifetime standards. Second, investigate the supply chain of low-trade-volume raw materials, such as cesium, and ensure adequate accessibility for the sustainable scale-up of a given MHP composition, or focus research, to reduce or substitute. Third, seek alternatives to indium. Fourth, explore how to accelerate PV glass recycling without downcycling. And fifth, further improve module remanufacturing processes.

“A reasonable combination of these solutions would enable MHP-PVs to contribute meaningfully and sustainably to the energy transition,” stressed the team.

The scientists asserted that “circularizing the PV supply chain, particularly through recycling and remanufacturing glass”, provides opportunities to lower the embodied energy and carbon of MHP-PVs. “Improvements in lifetime and reliability remain paramount for the energy transition and provide the largest benefits,” they concluded.

The perspective is detailed in “Sustainability pathways for perovskite photovoltaics,” published by nature materials.

From pv magazine Global

Sinovoltaics, a Hong Kong-based quality assurance services firm, released the third edition of its Sinovoltaics PV inverter manufacturer financial stability ranking, featuring 32 manufacturers. The ranking is based on publicly available information on publicly traded companies.

The top ten inverter manufacturers are China’s Hoymiles Power Electronics, Irish energy management specialist Eaton, U.S.-based microinverter specialist Enphase Energy, China-based Kstar Science and Technology and Taiwan-based Delta Electronics, followed by China’s Sinexcel, Switzerland-based ABB, China’s Goodwe, France’s Schneider Electric and U.S.-based Emerson.

In this edition, Schneider Electric is new to the top ten, coming up from fifteenth to ninth.

Sinovoltaics notes that the report, which is global in scope and calculated since September 2021, provides insight into how the financial strength of inverter manufacturers has evolved over the past three years. The report is free to download.

The ranking is based on a so-called Altmann Z-score, a quantitative formula that uses multiple corporate income and balance sheet values to measure the financial health of a company. Sinovoltaics assesses a company’s financial strength through a credit-strength test based on profitability, leverage, liquidity, solvency and activity ratios.

A score that is 1.1 or lower indicates a higher probability of bankruptcy within the next two years, while a higher score of 2.6 or greater indicates a solid financial position.

Sinovoltaics has published several other manufacturer rankings for the quarter, including reports focused on battery manufacturers and module manufacturers. It notes that the financial ranking does not indicate the quality of the equipment, rather they are meant to be used as an element of the due diligence process, or to help identify financially stable partners.

From pv magazine Global

PeroNova, a U.S.-based startup specializing in solar perovskite technologies, has developed a solar perovskite module for building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) and space applications.

“Our novel interfacial treatment technology enhances the stability and reliability of perovskite films in tests, and in fabrication conditions. Thermal cycling resistivity tests demonstrated over 80% of initial power conversion efficiency after 2,500 cycles,” a PeroNova spokesperson told pv magazine.

The company currently develops lab-scale four-terminal (4T) perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells and 900 cm2 mini perovskite modules. The lab-scale cells have reportedly an efficiency of around 30%, while the modules achieve around 28% for the 4-T tandem configuration, 22% for outdoor applications, and 18% for space.

Founded in 2023,  PeroNova plans to address the demand for solar power in portable electronics, space and rooftop markets. “Our team has diligently worked to create a best-in-class American-made product that offers affordable and reliable renewable energy globally,” said co-founder and CEO, Min Chen, in a statement.

The company also recently announced it is collaborating with unspecified U.S. real estate developers intending to “bring large-scale implementation” of BIPV and agrivoltaics across the country. It will also be working with undisclosed space tech companies.

PeroNova has secured five patents from the U.S. Department of Energy. It also recently appointed Peter H. Diamandis, a U.S.-based entrepreneurial investor and founder of the XPRIZE Foundation, to its advisory board where he will “advise on product design, commercialization strategy and investor relations.”

The University of Michigan student-run solar car team took home the gold covering 2095.5 miles (3372 km) at 37.51 mph (60.3 kmph) over 8 days in the latest Electrek American Solar Challenge 2024. The top spot placing came after a car roll on day one of the qualifier round damaged the engine, almost knocking the team out of the competition.

The Electrek American Solar Challenge 2024 attracted over 30 student-run teams from the U.S. and Canada to the eight-day competition that began on 20 July in Nashville, Tennessee, and ended in Casper, Wyoming on 27 July. The primary route has 1562.2 total miles to complete, plus seven optional loops for teams to earn additional points. Vehicles must average at least 35 mph for the event.

This year’s winner of the single-occupant vehicle class is the University of Michigan student team with its Astrum solar car. It completed 2095.5 miles (3372 km) at an average speed of 37.51 mph (60.3 kmph), followed by the team from Canada’s École de technologie supérieure with 2004.5 miles, and in third place, the Illinois State University solar car team with 1504.3 miles.

The winning team’s spokesperson told pv magazine that the team’s biggest technical challenge came in the qualifier race after a motor failure on day two, the result of damage experienced when the car rolled on the previous day. It was replaced in time and the team went on to complete the qualification rounds.

Astrum is a 3-wheel carbon fiber monohull design with a mandatory roll bar that measures 5 m*1.2 m *1.0 m. It has a 20 kg lithium-ion battery. Its 2 kW motor from Japan’s Mitsuba is powered by a 4m2 solar array featuring Maxeon Sunpower Gen 3 and Gen 7 solar cells.

The team will be taking Astrum to the next Bridgestone World Solar Challenge in Australia in 2025. Last year it finished in fourth place, just behind the student teams from Belgium’s Leuven University, Dutch Team Twente and the United Kingdom’s Brunel.

A research team led by the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands has outlined a roadmap for the optimization of monolithic perovskite/CIGS tandem solar cells and has found these PV devices may achieve a practical efficiency limit of 26.69%.

Using TCAD Sentaurus and GenPro4 modeling software, the scientists performed optical and electrical simulations of the materials and interfaces used in this type of tandem solar cell to better understand loss mechanisms and define a series of measures to improve efficiency.

The results were then calibrated by comparing simulated devices to three experimental devices: a tandem perovskite/CIGS solar cell; a single junction perovskite solar cell; and a single junction CIGS solar cell provided by Miasolé.

“The simulation platform is typically used in semiconductor research and development, as well as thin film and PV research. The CIGS sub-cell was based on on a state-of-the-art industrial device,” Delft University researcher, Paul Procel-Moya, told pv magazine.

The team noted that its work in this area differs from other numerical studies, as its focus is on the fundamental working mechanisms of the layers comprising the tunnel recombination junction (TRJ) and coupling-related loss calculations.

The study involved examining the energy alignment in TRJ layers to uncover the impact on external parameters of the baseline tandem solar cell, the exchange mechanisms between top and bottom cells, and the impact on the overall performance of the tandem system.

“Based on the main results, we propose a realistic roadmap for improvement of the tandem solar cell,” said Procel-Moya pointing to a four-pronged strategy towards improved performance. “We found in the simulation that the first stage should be fine-tuning the coupling tunneling junction between the two cells. It’s the first bottleneck.”

The first stage is to improve and optimize energy alignment at TRJ, while the second is to enhance the light management by minimizing the current mismatch between the sub-cells and reducing reflectance losses by adjusting perovskite and metallization thickness, for example. The third step is to improve the transport towards the tin oxide transport layer of the top cell. This step alone gave an estimated efficiency rise from 24.37 % to 25.13 %, according to the research. The fourth modification is to improve passivation in the top sub-cell.

Based on such modifications, the researchers calculated that the reference tandem cell could achieve an efficiency of 26.69 %. The team said that it expects that further “conversion efficiency gains are possible” by improving areas of the bottom cell, such as the absorber band gap energy and the passivation of the interface of CIGS and molybdenum layers.

Feedback received by Procel-Moya from other researchers currently experimenting at the lab scale confirmed that the TRJ focus was good advice. Looking ahead, the team will continue to do research on the physics of semiconductors PV and thin film with a focus on stability, studying reverse bias at the theoretical level, according to Procel-Moya.

The research appears in “Opto-electrical modelling and roadmap for 2T monolithic Perovskite/CIGS tandem solar cells,” published by Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells. The team members were from the Netherlands institutions, Delft University of Technology, University of Twente, Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), and U.S.-based MiaSole Hi-Tech Corp.

From pv magazine Global

Sinovoltaics, a Hong Kong-based technical compliance and quality assurance service firm, has released its third quarter PV Module Manufacturers Ranking, which is global in scope and covers 65 panel suppliers, 6 more than the previous ranking. The report is available to download for free. Results are calculated based on publicly available information from September 2021 to June 2024 to provide insight into the stability of the scores over time.

In this edition, the analysts highlighted four module manufacturers that made improvements, such as U.S.-based Mission Solar’s shift to tenth spot from twelfth, India-based Tata Power Solar up from position 37 to 30, and Taiwan-based Ritek climbed from 47 to 44.

The top of the financial stability chart features four manufacturers from India, Abhishek Corp, Insolartion Energy, Waaree Renewable Technologies, Solex Energy, followed by U.S.-based First Solar, which moved up a notch into fifth from sixth place. Next is Taiwan-based Tainergy, which had the top spot last quarter, now in position six. It is followed by Eterbright Solar Corporation, Taiwan-based TSEC, and two newcomers to the top ten, Vietnam’s Boviet Solar and U.S.-based Mission Solar.

The Sinovoltaics financial stability ranking uses a so-called Altmann Z-score, a quantitative formula that relies on several corporate income and balance sheet values to measure the financial health of a company. It assesses a company’s financial strength based on public information through a credit-strength test based on profitability, leverage, liquidity, solvency, and activity ratios. A score that is 1.1 or lower indicates a higher probability of bankruptcy within the next two years, while a higher score of 2.6 or greater indicates a solid financial position.

The Sinovoltaics analysts note that while the rankings do not say anything about the actual quality of PV equipment, buyers and other industry stakeholders, such as financial institutions, can use the ranking reports as part of the due diligence process or to help identify financially stable partners.

From pv magazine Global

A review of indoor PV cell technologies by an international research team documents over 250 large area and small area commercial and laboratory devices. It covers organic, dye-sensitized, and perovskite devices, as well as crystalline and amorphous silicon, III-V semiconductor, chalcogenide, and emerging lead-free alternative cells.

“We observed that the interest in the field was really taking off, so we believed a comprehensive review on all indoor PV technologies was due,” the review’s co-author Giulia Lucarelli told pv magazine.

The review also includes a discussion about applications, recent progress, and strategies used to design more stable, highly efficient cells that operate at very low light levels.

“We have provided the performance details of the indoor PV devices at 200 lx and 1000 lx illuminance,” corresponding author, Thomas M. Brown, told pv magazine, explaining that most homes have a 200 lx illuminance, whereas 1000 lx is typical in very well-lit environments like supermarkets.

Brown pointed out that one of the initial high-volume market niches for indoor PV has been electronic supermarket shelf labels. Other applications are emerging, such as Internet-of-Things products, where PV is seen as enabling a “fit and forget” approach, where a product is installed once with no further maintenance required. “Think of applying a temperature or other type of sensor in your home and leaving it there to operate without ever having to replace batteries,” said Brown.

Cell technologies covered in the review range from crystalline and amorphous silicon to III-V semiconductor and chalcogenide devices, as well as organic, dye-sensitized, perovskite, and lead-free alternative devices.

Looking at the power conversion efficiency (PCE) and maximum power density (MPD) the team made several observations. For example, it said that it was “obvious that irrespective of the indoor lamp type or intensity”, perovskite solar cells have “outdone” other PV technologies both in terms of efficiency and output power.

The team observed that organic photovoltaic devices (OPV) performed well under light-emitting diodes (LED), while dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) outperformed in fluorescent light (FL). But it also cautioned there was only a limited number of reports making it “difficult” to draw any conclusions.

“Among the established technologies, compound and thin film semiconductors in recent years have shown considerable improvement in performance, with the former delivering high efficiency and output power,” stressed the team. “The lead-free alternatives have just entered the indoor PV arena and have managed to deliver the highest efficiency of around 18 % with a tin-based perovskite.”

Standards for performance reporting were discussed, particularly the need for a protocol for measurement in standard light source spectrum and a standard illuminance level, or levels. “The most utilized currently are 200 lx and 1000 lx so both should continue to be reported,” said the scientists.

They explained that MPD reporting for 200 lx and 1000 lx illuminance is important for product developers designing energy harvesting solutions and products that operate in a range of lighting conditions. “MPD is a more immediate metric since product developers who wish to integrate PV in their items know exactly what is coming out of the PV device,” co-author Abhisek Chakraborty told pv magazine. 

Brown added that indoor lamp spectra are diverse, ranging from LED, to compact fluorescent and lamp bulbs with different color temperatures. “We only have 1 sun but a myriad of indoor light sources,” said Brown.

They also noted that whereas crystalline silicon, thin film, and new PV technologies have stability protocols for outdoor applications, and accelerated stress tests, these are “still lacking” for PV-designed indoor environments only.

In summarizing the findings, the team noted indoor laboratory efficiencies for emerging PV technologies are reaching efficiencies in the range of 35 – 45 % under 200 lx and 1000 lx. “The corresponding electrical power densities are in the range of 20 – 25 μW cm-2 at 200 lx and the range of 120 – 150 μW cm2 at 1000 lx illuminance,” it said.

There is work to do in indoor PV stability and more investigation under continuous indoor illumination, noted the team, pointing out that improvements can be achieved “through the right choice of materials, device design and scalable manufacturing” processes.

“The goal is to improve performance while increasing stability and reducing the cost of not only the indoor devices but their integration capabilities with the electronic products they aim to power,” it said.

“As mentioned earlier there is a question of different reporting, illumination, and measurement conditions for indoor PV,” Brown said, referring to the future direction of the research. “We are trying to present some best practices for this. We are also working on some national projects related to developing perovskite PV indoors via more sustainable materials and fabrication processes.”

The review appears in “Photovoltaics for Indoor Energy Harvesting,” published by Nano Energy. The researchers were from Italy’s Tor Vergata University, the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), the Fundación Escuela Tecnologica in Colombia, and Jain University in India.

From pv magazine Global

A new report from the International Energy Agency’s Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme (IEA-PVPS) describes the growth in dedicated end-of-life solar PV recycling activity, providing an overview of equipment manufacturers and recyclers, as well as trend information about patents and research publications. It also provides some early life cycle inventory (LCI) information provided by several commercial recyclers in the U.S. and Europe.

The report includes details about 177 commercial PV material recyclers and equipment providers, up from 25 companies identified in a 2017 study. “It is exciting to see the progress over a roughly 6-year period in the number of recycling companies with dedicated PV solutions since the last report,”  corresponding author Cara Libby, a technical executive at U.S.-based Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) told pv magazine.

Several recyclers provided life cycle inventory (LCI) data about recycling processes, energy consumption and material recovery. Three of them were from Germany: Reiling Glas Recycling, LuxChemtech, and Flaxres, two from France, ROSI and Envie 2E Aquitaine, plus Italy-based Tialpi, Japan-based NPC and U.S.-based First Solar.

Looking at recycling data for both crystalline silicon (c-Si) and thin film cadmium telluride (CdTe) activity, it said, “Most processes are still under development or in a pilot stage, except for several mechanical process technologies for c-Si modules and First Solar’s recycling plants in the United States, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Germany for CdTe modules.” The reported recycled volumes ranged from 1,000 t/yr t to 50,000 t/yr.

The mechanical recycling, grinding, and crushing methods are the original, and probably most established and understood, but the outputs are not yet very pure. “We see an investment in dedicated equipment and new technologies, some scaling up too,” said Libby, highlighting water jet cleaning to remove back sheets, light pulse treatment to melt laminates so they can be peeled off, pyrolysis techniques, hot knife, and chemical methods.

When pv magazine asked if the PV industry itself might end up being the biggest market for the recovered materials, Libby answered, “It is indeed a very big market, but it may be challenging to use materials like silicon again in new products due to purity issues. It might be the same for glass. Very high purity materials are required for reuse in the PV industry.”

Patent activity and technology publishing

The team identified relevant PV recycling technology patents and literature, noting a “steep” increase in activity. A global patent search identified 456 patents, with 80% of patents targeting recycling processes for silicon-based modules, cell metals, polymers, glass, or devices.

Companies with the most patents were identified and ranked with the Korea Institute of Energy Research, followed by China’s Suzhou Goldway Technologies, First Solar, and Yingli, a Chinese module manufacturer. The next three companies in the ranking were from Japan, Tattori Resource Recycling, NPC which provides PV production and recycling equipment, and Daikin Industries.

The country ranking based on patent activity has China at the top with 141, followed by Japan with 85, South Korea with 79, the U.S with 54 and 33 for Germany,

The global literature search revealed 569 relevant papers and publications. The report noted that the number of publications has “ascended steeply since 2010”, which correlates with the “number of newly installed PV capacities” combined with “discussions and implementations” of the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) regulations in Europe. “Many countries are considering PV waste policies, and research interest is high,” it said.

From pv magazine Global

A U.S. research team has fabricated a mini perovskite solar module based on a special polymer hole transport layer material that reportedly improves the panel stability and efficiency.

“The stability of perovskite modules has not been demonstrated to meet the required 25 years lifetime in many applications,” the research’s corresponding author, Jinsong Huang, told pv magazine, noting that the group was able to build the panel after identifying an ultraviolet (UV) light-induced perovskite degradation mechanism as one of the main causes affecting perovskite module stability.

“We report degradation mechanisms of p-i-n–structured perovskite solar cells under unfiltered sunlight and with LEDs,” the scientists explained, adding that they initially detected the cause of UV light-induced degradation in outdoor testing in the weak chemical bonding between the perovskite layer, the hole-transporting materials (HTM) and the transparent conducting oxide (TCO) layer at the cell level. “This causes perovskite solar cell degradation under sunlight with strong UV components.”

To mitigate the effects of this degradation, the scientists upgraded the perovskite solar cells used for the mini modules with a hybrid HTM based on a combination of EtCz3EPA, a new molecule, and poly[bis(4-phenyl)-(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)-amine bathocuproine (PTAA:BCP).

This combination purportedly resulted in a stronger interconnection layer at the interface of the perovskite and the substrate in outdoor testing. “We enhanced the bonding at the perovskite/HTM/TCO region via a phosphonic acid group that bonded to the TCO and via a nitrogen group that interacted with lead in perovskites,” the academics explained.

The cells were based on a substrate made of indium tin oxide (ITO), the novel HTM, the perovskite absorber, a buckminsterfullerene (C60) electron transport layer, bathocuproine (BCP), and a copper (Cu) metal contact.

The 15 cm2 perovskite solar module fabricated with this cell configuration was able to achieve a power conversion efficiency of over 16% and retain these efficiency levels for around 29 weeks of outdoor testing. The results were confirmed independently at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Perovskite PV Accelerator for Commercializing Technologies (PACT) accelerator.

“Real-world demonstration is a critical step towards commercialization, and we hope by PACT offering these capabilities researchers and companies can leverage this data toward improved reliability,” the researchers said.

Their work is described in the paper “Strong-bonding hole-transport layers reduce ultraviolet degradation of perovskite solar cells,” published in Science. The research team had members from the University of North Carolina, the Colorado School of Mines, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the University of Toledo, and the University of California San Diego.

“This research is a true collaboration between organic synthetic chemists and solar cell device engineers working together to solve big problems. Furthermore, the chemistry to prepare the molecule of interest in this study is relatively simple and just the tip of the iceberg,” stated Alan Sellinger, a professor at Colorado School of Mines in a press release. Looking at upcoming research projects, Huang said that the group will continue to “understand the degradation mechanisms and find methods to overcome them.”

Google has made a capital investment in Taiwan-based New Green Power (NGP), in a deal that grants the US tech company the rights to procure up to 300 MW of solar power. The companies said that Google’s suppliers in the region could also gain access to NGP capacity.

NGP is a large-scale PV project developer, engineering & construction (EPC) and operator specialist founded in 2009. It has plans to expand its solar project pipeline in Taiwan to 1 GW in the coming years. NGP is a portfolio company of a climate infrastructure unit of U.S.-based asset manager, Blackrock.

“We’re aiming to reach net-zero emissions across our operations and value chain, supported by a goal to run on 24-7 carbon-free energy everywhere we operate,” said Google head of data center energy, Amanda Peterson Corio, in a statement. “The path to reach these goals is challenging, and requires both commercial efforts and broader energy systems change.”

Google recently procured additional solar power capacity through power purchase agreements in Japan and Australia. In February, Google became the largest buyer of power purchase agreements in Europe. It has also been procuring solar power in Taiwan for several years.

From pv magazine Global

U.S.-based Yotta Energy is targeting solar PV and energy storage installations with its “panel-level storage” offer, a new package including the SolarLEAF SL-1000 1 kWh solid state thermally-regulated lithium-iron-phosphate battery and a Yotta Energy three-phase  DPI-208 or DPI-480microinverters.

Each inverter and 25.7 kg battery is designed to be integrated into rooftop racking which can also secure individual solar panels directly above the batteries. The battery measures 40 cm x 66 cm x 10 cm supporting solar PV input of up to 750 W. It is a 38.4V and 26.4Ah system with a life cycle of 6,000-8,000 discharges.

Yotta sees commercial rooftops as a “huge untapped” market for its energy solutions, according to its vice president of sales Ryan Davies. The most recent projects are 100 kWh systems installed in Texas and California. It also provided a 120 kWh battery storage system for a remotely located electric vehicle charger pilot project that was led by U.S automotive manufacturer Polaris.

“We can offer plan, design, review, and financing support to all our clients to smooth out the challenges that have traditionally existed in this market,” Davies told pv magazine.

Founded in 2016, the company has made the long journey from concept to market. “So far we’ve done about 25 MW of storage-ready sites with our microinverter. We’re fully approved for installations nationwide and have battery installations across California and five other states,” said Davies.

The company notes that its solution has several advantages compared to conventional C&I solar storage solutions. For example, the design cuts out the need for a dedicated room or separate space for the battery racks and it reportedly keeps batteries cool, passively maintaining an ideal working temperature range, between 21 C and 38 C (69.8 F and 100.4 F).

Battery management software, dubbed YottaVision2.0, is included. It stores and displays performance and monitoring data. It has mapping visualization to localize system events, DXF file formats for computer-aided design, and supports project and commissioning documentation management.

The company raised venture capital last year, an $8 million round led by Evergy Ventures and BlueScopeX, both corporate venture capital investors, and Cricetus Felix Ventures, an impact investor, along with early investors.

From pv magazine Global

The latest supply chain report from Sinovoltaics, the Hong Kong-based technical compliance and quality assurance company, covers the North American manufacturing hub, tracking factory size, location, owner, current and planned capacity. It provides details on 95 factories producing PV modules, cells, wafers, ingots, polysilicon, and metallurgical-grade siliconin the region, up from 81 in the first quarter.

The Sinovoltaics Supply Chain Map (SSCM) – North America for Q2 2024 notes 42 GW of total module production capacity spread across Mexico, Canada, and the United States, which manufacturers plan to double to 84 GW in the coming 3 to 6 years. A Sinovoltaics spokesperson told pv magazine that the figures represent “nameplate capacity.”

The report presents data from publicly available sources, as well as Sinovoltaics contacts with manufacturers. “The report gives insights into the theoretical capacity if the factories are running at 100%,” a spokesperson from the company said. “Our data are based on the press releases that we’ve received from different manufacturers and different research, and marketing analysis documents that we’ve seen.”

There are ten more manufacturers included in the second quarter report than the previous one, a mixture of thin film, TOPCon, and perovskite tandem technology companies. The additions are Ascent Solar, Astronergy, Boway Alloy, Caelux, Great Lakes Solex, NanoPV, Prism Solar, Runergy, Solaria, and Ubiquity Solar.

The analysts noted constraints in the region’s supply chain at the cell and wafer nodes. Cell production is at 8 GW and growing to 55 GW in the coming 3 to 6 years, while wafer production is to grow from 3.2 GW to 24.5 G.

The Sinovoltaics team noted the CubicPV decision to halt silicon wafer production to focus on tandem perovskite technology and REC Silicon’s plant closure in Butte, Montana, observing that the market had not moved yet to fill the void.

Sinovoltaics has been tracking the development of PV manufacturing hubs and began publishing a series of free quarterly reports this year, mapping production in India, North America, Southeast Asia, and Europe

From pv magazine Global

Monalee, a U.S.-based software company has developed a web-based platform to enable investing in residential rooftop PV and related home energy systems. The company serves consumer solar PV markets in the states shown on the map.

The software provides estimates, quotes, financing, permitting, installation, and interconnection services after the homeowner enters their address, current bill, and choice of PV or battery, or both. It also calculates savings, a subsidy or credit calculator, and after-sales support via an app.

“Ordering and completing solar purchases must move online because that is what consumers want. They are used to it, even for major purchases such as buying a car,” Monalee CEO and co-founder Walid Halty, told pv magazine, adding that the challenge with solar is the need for site visits to be able to develop the project.

Monalee solved the site visit challenge by tapping into geographical information system (GIS) data and imagery from Google Maps via an application programming interface (API), known as Solar API.

“But the Solar API covered only half of the U.S.,” said Halty, describing how the company partnered with earth imaging specialists that provided photogrammetry LIDAR and drone imagery data for wider coverage.

Deep learning techniques were applied to enable the software to detect roof edges, for example, or to identify building features, such as a chimney or air conditioning units.

Monalee is a licensed general contractor and master electrician in 24 U.S. states. It works with small to midsize installers as sub-contractors, as well as other partners, such as equipment suppliers and finance providers to supply the services sold via its platform, according to Halty, who said that the company has served 1,900 homeowners since its founding in 2022. He attributes it to the service being “less time-consuming” and “more economical” compared to conventional methods.

Monalee reports that it uses Mitrex 405 solar panels and Tesla inverters. It is also a Certified Tesla dealer and uses the Tesla Powerwall for residents who opt for energy storage.

Offering lower prices has led to some unexpected results. “We were surprised to see demand in parts of the country, like Georgia, Alabama, and Kentucky, that are not typically big solar markets due to lower electricity prices. The largest market by volume are Florida and California, as expected,” said Halty.

Monalee has raised a total of $10 million in venture capital, with the most recent round closing in March 2024. The company has plans to expand to 35 states this year.

Researchers in Germany analyzed the future consumption of material by the crystalline silicon PV industry, including glass, aluminum, silver, copper, ethylene-vinyl-acetate (EVA), and silicon, and found that a circular recycling approach could be a solution to supply chain and waste issues, with the potential to be economically sustainable.

The team presented a detailed vision of a “perpetual utility” cycle for solar panels, asserting that the time is now to begin to make the changes to enable cradle-to-cradle recycling, and that Europe will likely lead the way.

“I would say that genuinely circular recycling is in the future for almost anything we produce today. The biggest challenge in my opinion is that we still lack processes that allow circular recycling to compete economically with generating virgin materials,” research leader, Ian Marius Peters, told pv magazine. “Europe has the strongest regulatory framework, and I expect that to remain the case for some time. For that reason, I believe that Europe will be leading the way in the coming years.”

Peters asserts that circular recycling will make PV even more sustainable than it is now. Further benefits include the recovery of resources, especially glass, and even land. At the moment, a strong economic incentive is lacking, so recycling is driven by policies and regulations.

In the study, the researchers relied on a future scenario prepared by PV scientist Pierre Verlinden, which foresees a cumulative capacity of 80 TW by 2050  and a “steady-state manufacturing value of about 3.3 TW /year” in 2033. It considered material re-use scenarios, economic value, and volumes to determine the role of circular recycling to sustain the growth trajectory of solar PV, and to avoid waste streams on “a scale roughly equivalent to today’s global e-waste”.

It considered the recycling of silver, glass, and silicon. For example, it noted the need to replace or reduce silver due to competition from other industries with higher margins will be able to outbid the PV industry, due to its narrow margins.

The team noted that if silver is replaced, then it will be “essential” to recycle silicon, copper, and aluminum. The latter is seen as the second-most valuable recycling product of a PV module, and “its role will likely increase as silver is replaced,” noted the scientists.

Glass recycling is seen as “vital”, especially in the mid- to late-2030s, when the amount of glass from retired panels will be in the tens of millions of tons, as there is no alternative market able to absorb it. “The most suitable market, and in some cases the only one large enough to absorb the amount of recycled material, will be PV module manufacturing itself,” stressed the team.

Recycling processes must be able to retain the value of recycled components, it noted. For example, silicon recycling could reduce projected energy demand and shorten the energy payback time of modules made with recycled silicon. “Circular recycling of silicon has the potential to become the main economic driver for module recycling,” they said.

Looking ahead, teams are working on PV module designs that are easier to dismantle. “We have realized prototypes with solution-processes solar cells, for which we could demonstrate that all materials could be restored to the quality of virgin components,” said Peters.

There is also a need for research on improving the quality of recycled silicon, developing techniques to get rid of impurities, and reducing the energy required.

“Circular recycling is essential for managing the significant material flows required for a global PV module fleet in the multi-terawatt range,” conclude the researchers, adding that although the mass recycling of PV modules is still years or decades away, “it is vital to prepare for circular recycling now to avoid dealing with millions of tons of low-value waste in the future.”

The perspective paper appears in “Cradle-to-cradle recycling in terawatt photovoltaics: A vision of perpetual utility,” published in Joule.

Feedback since publishing has been positive. “Especially setting the projected material flows of the PV industry in a wider context and exploring the implications on circular recycling is something that people have told me they consider interesting and useful,” said Peters.

The researchers were from Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg for Renewable Energy, Jülich Institute for Energy and Climate Research, and Friedrich-Alexander University.

An international research team has developed a method to make high-quality perovskite films at room temperature for applications in perovskite solar cells. The novel process avoids thermal annealing and additional post-treatments.

The team selected a perovskite composition known as (Cs_x(FA_0.92MA_0.08)_1−xPb(I_0.92Br_0.08)₃), which was converted into α-FAPbI₃ at room temperature. Further conversion was promoted with the addition of an organic linker known as oleylamine or simply OAm. The method’s effect on quality growth patterns was confirmed by in situ X-ray monitoring.

Furthermore, to demonstrate the feasibility of the process on non-traditional PV substrates and materials, the researchers deposited their perovskite film on a plant leaf, something that would have been impossible with conventional methods.

“The most challenging aspects of the work were to understand the working mechanism and then to demonstrate that the process was gentle enough to deposit perovskite films atop fresh leaves which are very soft and fragile,” research lead author, Thuc-Quyen Nguyen, told pv magazine.

The researchers described the fabrication of cells with a planar p-i-n structure to investigate the effect of cesium (Cs) and OAm on performance and said they used only printable materials. The fabricated devices had an indium tin oxide substrate with a spin-coated layer of MeO-2PACz, which is also known as [2-(3,6-Dimethoxy-9H-carbazol-9-yl)ethyl]phosphonic acid.

Then the perovskite absorber went through a two-step spin-coating process and was connected to an electron transport layer (ETL) based on  phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) that also relied on spin coating and a bathocuproine (BCP) buffer layer. All of the previous was achieved without thermal annealing. Finally, a 100 nm thick silver metal contact was thermally deposited onto the substrates as cathodes inside a vacuum thermal evaporator.

Reproducibility was assessed via 100 devices with varying amounts of experimental materials. Observing the results, the team noted that the addition of OAm “significantly mitigated” deviations and improved device properties, and that the Cs10+OAm devices exhibited the highest short-circuit current density, open-circuit voltage, and fill factor with the smallest deviations of efficiencies.

The team said that the optimized Cs_10+OAm device achieved “impressive efficiencies” of 23.2%. With an anti-reflective coating, it was increased to 24.4%. It noted that the results surpassed efficiencies attained by previous low-temperature and room-temperature (RT) processed perovskite solar cells (PSCs).

“Through a combination of characterization techniques, we unveiled the morphology and device physics of RT-processed PSCs. Finally, we demonstrated that the annealing-free processing enables the fabrication of high-quality perovskite films on leaf substrates,” concluded the researchers.

The details of the study appear in “Room-temperature-processed perovskite solar cells surpassing 24% efficiency,” published in Joule. The researchers came from three institutions, University of California, Santa Barbara, Korea’s Pusan National University, and Korea Electric Power Research Institute.

Looking ahead, the teams intend to work on integrated PV and indoor PV technologies. “Currently, we focus on the development of efficient semi-transparent solar cells that achieve efficiencies exceeding 12% while ensuring a transparency level of over 30%. These cells are designed for integration into building windows, vehicles, and greenhouses,” said Nguyen.

“Additionally, we are actively engaged in the development of indoor solar cells capable of achieving efficiencies surpassing 40% under LED lighting conditions. This breakthrough has the potential to provide renewable energy to power indoor devices and systems.”

From pv magazine Global

PVRadar Labs, a Germany-based software company, has expanded the functionality of its PVRadar software platform, adding the ability to model utility-scale project performance using climate data, in addition to soiling and cleaning optimization.

“By using PVRadar developers can do a proper risk assessment to factor in snow losses, soiling, or albedo effects. It is especially useful for European or U.S.-based developers who are entering new geographic markets because the climate data is global,” PVRadar Labs co-founder and CEO, Thore Müller, told pv magazine.

“Originally, the software was set up to optimize PV module cleaning costs at the early stage of planning, but we found that many of our clients struggled to correctly determine loss factors for yield estimation. Usually they use simple tools, like excel spreadsheets, but there is a clear need for accurate prediction based on historic conditions, such as rainfall, snowfall, and particulate matter, for example.”

PVRadar provides historical climate data going back 20 years. It is based on geographical information system (GIS) sources, as well as national weather databases, if available. “We saw that for some project inputs, there is verifiable data available to developers, such as the price of the modules supplied by manufacturers, or the performance attributes supplied by testing labs. But it was not so with climate-related effects and loss factors. Therefore, all too often project developers rely on generalized assumptions, for example assuming a flat 2% soiling loss, which in many dry areas has no relation to reality,” said Müller.

The platform is complementary to internal workflows and commercially available design tools, such as PVCase, PVFarm, PVDesign, or PVSyst. It provides users with realistic loss factor inputs, according to Müller.

Access to the platform comes in two variations, either a single project license or a corporate subscription for unlimited projects. “We have twelve project development companies using the platform for multiple projects. That is because developers are usually assessing a lot more sites than they end up developing. It could be ten designs for every project that gets built,” Franco Clandestino, co-founder and head of product, told pv magazine.

Looking ahead, the team is working on additional risk assessment tools. “We will be continuously adding more models, for example, for the degradation rate, and we will also allow users to create their own models and feed them from our database,” said Müller.

U.S.-based PVFarm has launched a web-based PV plant design application for professionals involved in the early stages of the design cycle of utility-scale and commercial and industrial (C&I) projects.

The subscription-based tool offers rapid feedback on the implications of design decisions about layouts, equipment, grading, and electrical systems at the start of the project workflow. “It is a critical phase of the project with a lasting impact. Decisions have a thirty-year tail,” PVFarm head of technology, Maksim Markevich told pv magazine. “Currently we offer a paid product license after a co-piloted trial where we work with potential users to evaluate a real project with PVFarm.”

Users can mix equipment and electrical designs, or run different grading strategies across an entire site or field-by-field, according to the company. Layouts can be edited multiple times. Advanced algorithms help to quickly identify the most efficient options.

“The application was three years in the making. Our team has eight years of experience developing design automation software for other industries,” said Markevich.

Suitable for fixed ground mounted or single-axis tracking plants, the application reportedly supports financial, energy performance, electrical, civil, mechanical, and procurement aspects.  It has a building information model (BIM) functionality for modeling and provides information about objects to team members for analysis, exploration, or comparisons.

Multiple file formats are supported and there is compatibility with other tools, such as Autodesk and PvSyst. “By bringing all these aspects together in one platform, PVFarm enables users to evaluate opportunities and trade-offs holistically, ensuring informed decision-making,” said Markevich.

“The application was three years in the making. Our team has eight years of experience developing design automation software for other industries,” said Markevich.

Scientists from Arizona State University published a paper about solving mechanical-based failure mechanisms to make metal halide perovskite (MHP) modules and cells more stable and reliable.

The team asserted that the future of stable and efficient perovskite solar modules lies in understanding the interconnection between various degradation modes, mechanical, thermal, and chemical, under light, heat, and humidity stressors.

“We noticed that there is a significant acceleration in failure rates and reduction in lifetimes of perovskite solar modules in the field when compared to those tested in the lab,” the lead author of the paper, Marco Casareto, told pv magazine. “Specifically, there is little work on testing modules under multiple environmental stressors, such as both light and thermal fluctuations. We wanted to draw attention to this crucial area of research in the hopes of accelerating the progress and commercial viability of MHPs.”

“Yes, and we believe that these factors are connected, based on a shared underlying mechanism related to the mechanical properties of an MHP module,” research co-author, Nick Rolston, told pv magazine.

Their paper highlights issues related to the low fracture energy (Gc) of material layers and interlayer adhesion. “Gc is a material’s resistance to the propagation of a crack, dependent upon both material/interface bonding energy and the ability of a material to deform,” the research group explained.

In addition, it discusses the negative impact of film stresses within the perovskite absorber, how scribing removes material introducing even more interfaces for stress, and the importance of realistic accelerated degradation testing in the lab.

Realistic testing of devices with multiple simultaneous stressors is “crucial” to simulate operation in the field and achieve commercial maturity, emphasized the team. It proposed setting a minimum G_c of 1 J/m² for devices in the lab to ensure that modules can withstand processing and packaging steps without mechanical failure, as well as reduce the potential for delamination and accelerated degradation.

The researchers propose that “engineering compressive stress” and “tuning layer properties” could improve thermomechanical reliability. They also describe encapsulant and perovskite solar module (PSM) materials strategies to increase toughness.

Their findings appear in “Designing metal halide perovskite solar modules for thermomechanical reliability,” published in communications materials. 

When asked about reactions to the publication, Rolston said, “We haven’t had much feedback yet since the paper was just released; however, we have been discussing these results with several of the MHP startups that are working toward commercializing the technology, as well as the Perovskite PV Accelerator for Commercializing Technologies (PACT),” referring to the multi-year US Department of Energy’s PACT accelerator, led by Sandia National Laboratories.

There is still a long way to go, as Rolston sees it, but there is optimism about the development of MHP PV panels with operational lifetimes comparable to incumbent silicon or cadmium telluride (CdTe), if there is more of an effort in designing for thermomechanical reliability, rather than just for performance.

Looking ahead, Casareto said, “We’re currently working on validating our hypothesis of a mechanical-based failure mechanism. This involved fabricating MHP individual cells without scribing or encapsulation to establish a baseline of how they degrade under thermal cycling once encapsulated. We are now doing the same with modules soon to elucidate any differences in degradation mechanisms/severity of modules under thermal cycling. We aim to examine the effect of encapsulation, particularly at the scribe lines, as a module is thermally cycled to evaluate what properties are most important/beneficial for a PSM encapsulant.”

From pv magazine Global

The Durable Module Materials (DuraMAT) consortium, established by the United States Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Technology Office (SETO), has released its latest annual report with news about the availability of new PV forecasting tools and new research about certain module degradation trends.

DuraMAT reported the results of its focus on reliability forecasting in 2023, driven by the observation that the PV industry is “innovating so quickly that the performance of modules in the field is no longer always a reliable indicator of what will happen in the future.”

“We awarded six projects under our reliability forecasting call this year,” said Teresa Barnes, DuraMAT director and DOE National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) researcher in a press release.

The reliability forecasting projects addressed ultraviolet-induced degradation, glass fracture mechanics, and degradation mechanisms in encapsulants, as well as how to do faster analysis of failure data. As a result, DuraMAT now has a suite of software tools and data sets, some of which rely on quantitative modeling and rapid validation technologies. The tools cover topics such as mechanical models for materials, wind loading, fracture mechanics, moisture diffusion, and irradiance, and are available in the DuraMAT Data Hub.

“Drawing insights from all these areas should give us the capability to predict the long-term reliability of new module designs,” stated Barnes.

Two degradation mechanisms that received special attention from DuraMAT in 2023 are cell cracking and ultraviolet (UV) degradation. “Cracked cells are a challenge for the solar industry because they can reduce output but often go unnoticed,” said the team. Studies were carried out on quantifying and addressing cell cracking.

“Researchers found that some newer modules with many busbars, half-cut cells, and glass–glass encapsulation are more tolerant of cracked cells and less likely to show power loss,” it said. An outcome of the research is WhatsCracking, a free cell fracture prediction application to assist in making modules that are less sensitive to cell breakage. For example, designing modules that rotate half-cells at 90-degree angles to reduce the chance of cracking under load, as reported in pv magazine. The WhatsCracking app is one of the tools in the DuraMAT Data Hub.

DuraMAT researchers also found that UV-induced degradation is a significant issue in certain high-efficiency products. “These results are important, as the increased degradation related to UV exposure in modern cell types may offset some of the gains predicted from bifacial and other high-efficiency cells,” said the team, adding that DuraMAT will be starting new work to quantify this type of degradation in 2024.

The DuraMAT consortium, which is led by the DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), with participation by Sandia National Laboratories and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, includes a 22-member board of solar industry professionals.

From pv magazine

In mid-March 2024, Canada’s Silfab Solar, a high-efficiency module manufacturer with plans to expand into South Carolina, said it would source glass from U.S.-based PV panel recycler Solarcycle, which is planning a $344 million solar glass fab in the U.S. state of Georgia, supplied by recycled panel materials.

“We’re excited about the potential for domestic solar manufacturing growth to provide jobs and R&D development in the US,” Solarcycle Chief Operating Officer (COO) Rob Vinje told pv magazine.

Global growth

Andries Wantenaar, from market intelligence company Rethink Technology Research, said that “demand for solar glass is looking robust. It is a growing market with relatively stable prices.” He noted a 66% increase in every part of China’s solar manufacturing industry in 2023, and even more rapid growth outside China, where output doubled from 65 GW in 2022, to around 130 GW in 2023.

“If you make solar glass, you have a very large and very rapidly growing ­market outside of China to sell to,” said Wantenaar. “You won’t be stuck in the situation of Western polysilicon makers, whose customers are the wafer makers in China who are now buying from Chinese polysilicon makers exclusively at prices well below the Western marginal cost of production.”

Glass material prices are relatively stable. “The price of solar-grade glass has been stubborn for at least a decade now because it’s a totally figured-out product,” said Wantenaar. The caveat is that glass is an energy-intensive product, which is a strong cost factor, and one reason why China dominates its production. Wantenaar estimated that China holds “around 90%” of the solar glass market, higher than its 80% PV module share.

Two sides

Wantenaar believes glass will represent a bigger share of module costs in the future, as other elements become more cost-efficient and the bifacial module trend, typically featuring glass on both sides rather than a glass front combined with a polymer backsheet, intensifies.

“Bifacial recently passed 50% market share, looking at Chinese manufacturing outputs, and will continue to grow, to perhaps 75% in 2030,” said the analyst.

Bifacial glass modules typically use two 2 mm glass panes, sometimes 1.6 mm, as opposed to conventional panels, that feature 3.2 mm glass. The use of thinner glass might require different heat-strengthening processes and that may impact quality.

The trend toward glass-glass is something researchers at the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are looking into, regarding module durability.

“The really thin glass is optimized for shipping and logistics, not necessarily for durability performance in the field,” said Teresa Barnes, who manages the PV reliability and system performance group at NREL, and serves as head of the DOE-funded Durable Module Materials (Duramat) research consortium.

“Historically, silicon PV modules have been made with rolled and textured cover glass while thin film has used antimony-free float glass with a thickness of 2 mm or 3 mm,” said Barnes. “Thinner is possible but it’s trickier due to the heat-tempering process.”

It could be that glass material made for the North American market will have different mechanical requirements than for other regions.

“Extreme weather, such as hail, could mean that US modules would need the thicker-tempered glass,” said Barnes.

There are also similar signals coming from Europe.

“The trend here is to find niches,” said Martin Zugg, managing director of German glass manufacturer Interfloat, which is owned by India’s Borosil. “It is hard to find a niche but we see manufacturers developing more and more new niche markets, which includes hail-resistant panels that require thicker glass, roof-integrated modules, and building-integrated PV applications.”

Interfloat produces enough low-iron, high-transmission textured solar glass for 2 GW of modules per year. It makes glass with thicknesses ranging from 2 mm to 6 mm, in conventional as well as custom and special-request dimensions.

The use of thicker glass could give local glass manufacturers a market opportunity and lower transport-related costs.

“Glass is an expensive material to ship,” said the NREL’s Barnes. “Logistics costs, shipping, and storage are all paid by the PV module manufacturer.”

First Solar effect

U.S.-based thin-film PV giant First Solar is expanding capacity with 13 GW of operational output as of September 2023, and plans for 25 GW of global annual nameplate capacity in 2026, with 14 GW in the United States.

That expansion trajectory is triggering glass industry investment to supply it with the float glass it needs for its thin-film modules. In the United States, manufacturers NSG Group and Vitro Architectural Glass have announced contracts and plans for dedicated lines to serve First Solar.

In India, where First Solar recently inaugurated its 3.3 GW Series 7 module plant, French materials company Saint Gobain is reportedly bringing production online at a plant in the state of Tamil Nadu in order to supply the American manufacturer.

In November 2023, NSG said it would add transparent conductive oxide (TCO)-coated glass capacity in Ohio to supply First Solar, planning the move in early 2025. NSG has produced TCO-coated glass for thin-film PV for more than 25 years.

“Every year the solar market is bigger and bigger; more capital, more resources,” said Stephen Weidner, who heads NSG’s North ­American ­architectural glass and solar products groups. “We see this on a global basis.”

Glass for solar is becoming more significant. “It has gone from virtually nothing 10 years ago, to 10% to 15% of the total supply of the flat glass market in North America,” said Weidner. “Our goal is to grow with the market. That means that by end of [2024] we will have three float lines in North America dedicated to the solar segment, a further two lines in Vietnam, also one in Malaysia, which we converted to TCO from architectural glass earlier.”

Vitro Architectural Glass is also adding U.S. capacity to supply First Solar. In October 2023, it announced an expansion of its contract with First Solar and a plan to invest in a plant in Pennsylvania, as well as in adapting existing PV glass facilities. The company said in a statement that it expected “significant growth” in solar glass business due to the “nearshoring” effect in the United States.

IRA impact

Besides influencing First Solar and its growing glass supply chain, policies such as the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), are also spurring crystalline silicon manufacturing investment, triggering Canadian Premium Sand (CPS), a new entrant from Canada, to announce a solar panel glass project. CPS plans to build a factory in Selkirk, Manitoba, to produce 1.8 mm to 4 mm glass module covers in enough volume for 6 GW of solar panels per year.

“We are estimating demand in the North America region for solar pattern glass to reach nearly 100 GW by 2030, driven by the reshoring of the solar panel manufacturing supply chain in the US,” said Anshul Vishal, who heads up corporate development at CPS.

The business announced offtake agreements with the likes of Swiss module manufacturer Meyer Burger, Canada-based Heliene, and Qcells, owned by South Korea’s Hanwha. Further offtake discussions with other potential patterned solar glass customers are under way, according to Vishal, with plans to reach 100% contracted status prior to construction.

The CPS integrated glass project needs a CAD 880 million ($639 million) investment to set up the plant and to develop a silica sand site. The plan includes multiple lines of tempered and patterned solar glass, including anti-reflective and anti-soiling coating lines, to be online in 2026.

“It is a project endorsed by both provincial and federal government agencies and the environmental permits are in place,” said Vishal. “We just had the sand material tested in Europe, which confirmed that we will be able to use simple, low-cost, and environmentally responsible processes to refine it to patterned solar glass-grade specifications.”

CPS will be able to tap the Manitoba energy mix for low-CO₂-emission hydroelectricity and wind power. Being in the North American Free Trade ­Agreement zone at a site that is three to four days overland from customers – supporting simpler shipping and less potential disruption – are other location-related advantages, according to Vishal.

A consortium is contracted to build the CPS plant. It includes Henry F. Teichmann, an international glass plant contractor based in the United States; France-based industrial engineering firm Fives Group; Italian glassmaking equipment supplier Bottero; and two Canadian firms, Elrus Aggregate Systems, a mineral processing equipment provider; and PCL Constructors, a civil engineering firm.

Recycled glass

Like CPS, the plant planned for two-year old Solarcycle has an annual capacity with the module equivalent of 5 GW to 6 GW of generation capacity – but using recycled glass. Using recycled materials recovered from end-of-life crystalline silicon panels means the recovered glass has the right chemical composition. It is already a low-iron material, as Solarcycle’s Vinje sees it, and that will reduce energy demand and embodied carbon.

“It is the first low iron rolled glass plant to be built in the US market,” said the COO. “We are currently receiving offers from international glass processing equipment suppliers while the contracts for engineering, construction, and multiple subsystems are being negotiated with U.S.-based suppliers.”

In the works is an 800-meter-long patterned glass production line with both hot and cold processing segments. It includes a specially designed cross-fired regenerative furnace construction that reuses exhaust gases to reduce fuel consumption; hot rolled processing equipment; and the cutting, grinding, glass tempering, and other cold end process steps needed to make glass for dual-and single-glass modules.

Solarcycle is not the only glass supplier looking to benefit from using recycled material. Canada’s CPS also said it plans to use recycled glass cullet from external sources in its products while the likes of Japan’s AGC and Saint Gobain have also announced projects.

From pv magazine Global

A team from Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria has developed lead halide perovskite solar cells that measure less than 2.5 μm thick with a champion specific PV power density of 44 W/g, and an average performance of 41 W/g, which they were able to integrate into modules to power palm-sized quadcopter-style drones.

The technology exhibited promising stability results under several standard tests, as well as the energy harvesting potential sufficient to recharge the vehicle’s batteries. The details of their research appear in “Flexible quasi-2D perovskite solar cells with high specific power and improved stability for energy-autonomous drones,” published in nature energy.

The study’s large-area photovoltaic module, which measured 24 cm2, enabled the autonomous operation of the drone that extended “beyond what is possible on a single battery charge while eliminating the need for docking, tethered charging or other forms of human involvement.” The perovskite solar modules contributed just 1/400th of the drone’s total weight.

The group tested several alpha-methylbenzyl ammonium iodide (MBA) combinations in the top perovskite absorber layer, with PEDOT:PSS combining hole transport and electrode functions. The longest lifetime of the various MBA formulations included cesium (Cs), indicating “a reduction of non-radiative recombination pathways due to the presence of MBA and Cs”, according to the researchers.

The substrate was an “ultrathin” and transparent-conductive-oxide-free 1.4-μm-thick polymer foil coated with a layer of 100 nm aluminum oxide. It effectively served as a “barrier” to moisture and gases.

“This type of device has no room for typical encapsulation approaches, which are just too thick. Instead, the team relied on the MBA perovskite top layer’s large, bulky crystal formation to effectively passivate the surface, and for the substrate, the aluminum oxide layer applied with atomic layer deposition (ALD) tool serves to protect from the external conditions, but still stay lightweight and flexible,” research leader, Martin Kaltenbrunner, told pv magazine.

Indeed, the paper notes, for example, that the water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) of the “coated ultrathin substrate was measured to be about 35% lower” when compared to the reference designs, which were methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI3) devices.

Other features of the perovskite cell include an electron transport layer made of phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) with a titanium oxide interlayer, and a metal top contact, which the group pointed out could be made interchangeably of gold, or chromium/gold, or low-cost aluminum.

“It is important in our perovskite solar research to use precursors that are synthesized in as few steps as possible. Straightforward synthesis is key because we want the technology to be scalable and to keep material production costs in check,” said Kaltenbrunner.

From cells to module

The study’s small area perovskite solar cell measured 0.1 cm2 with an open circuit of 1.13 V, a short-circuit current density of 21.6 mA cm−2, a fill factor of 74.3%, and a power conversion efficiency of 18.1 %. The champion cells reached an open-circuit voltage of 1.15 V, a fill factor of 78%, and an efficiency of 20.1%.

The larger device had an active cell area of 1.0 cm2, with a mean open-circuit voltage of 1.11 V, a short-circuit density of 20.0 mA cm−2, a fill factor of 65.9%, and an efficiency of 14.7. The champion device reached an efficiency 16.3%, stated the research team.

The module for powering the drone had 24 interconnected 1 cm2 solar cells. The energy-autonomous hybrid solar-powered commercially available quadcopter-type drone weighed just 13 g.

The stability and prolonged outdoor operability were tested. For example, both the small- and large-area unencapsulated solar cells maintained 90% and 74% of initial performance, respectively, after 50 h continuous maximum power point tracking (MPPT) in ambient air. In addition, an external lab validated performance and properties of the perovskite composition.

The team asserted that it demonstrated the “broader benefits of using a quasi-2D perovskite active layer” and that it outperforms “other compositions in this field”, adding that the performance, stability, and usability of the ultra-lightweight perovskite solar technology is both a “portable and cost-effective sustainable energy harvesting” solution.

As a drone charging system, it is a step on the path to “perpetual-operation vehicle development” for both aerospace and terrestrial applications, it asserted.

The team has plans for further research along these lines. “We will continue to work continue to develop the AlOx barrier substrate technology, scalable deposition techniques, and to scale up to even larger modules, measuring at least 10 cm X 10 cm. We are intent on the development of lightweight, flexible PV solutions to power all kinds of robotics and autonomous vehicles,” said Kaltenbrunner. “There is great potential for deployable, flexible solar PV in both earth and space applications.”

From pv magazine global

The latest Sinovoltaics financial stability ranking of battery energy storage system producers, which is based on a balance sheet model and publicly available financial information, lists U.S.-based Tesla as number one, followed by South Korean’s LG Energy Solution, Taiwan-based Kung Long Battery and China’s Mustang Battery, along with U.S.-based Solid Power in the top five.

Sinovoltaics, a Hong Kong-based technical compliance and quality assurance service firm, has released its latest Energy Storage Manufacturers Ranking. The report, which is global in scope and covers 55 manufacturers, is available to download for free.  Results are calculated from June 2020 until March 2024 to provide insight into the stability of the scores over time.

The ranking uses a so-called Altmann Z-score, a quantitative formula to analyze multiple corporate income and balance sheet values to gauge the financial health of a company. It assesses a company’s financial strength based on publicly available information through a credit-strength test based on profitability, leverage, liquidity, solvency, and activity ratios. A score that is 1.1 or lower indicates a higher probability of bankruptcy within the next two years, while a higher score of 2.6 or greater indicates a solid financial position.

The manufacturers in the top ten of the energy storage ranking include Tesla, LG Energy Solution, Kung Long Battery, Mustang Battery, Solid Power, along with Ireland-based Eaton, China-based Sinexcel, Japanese manufacturers GS Yuasa and Sanyo, along with U.S.-based Livent.

Sinovoltaics has published several other manufacturer rankings this year, including reports focused on inverter manufacturers and module manufacturers. It points out that although the reports do not assess the quality of the equipment, they can be used by buyers and other industry stakeholders, such as financial institutions, as an element of the due diligence process, or to help identify financially stable partners.

From pv magazine Global

Voltaic Systems, a U.S.-based developer of solar PV systems for remotely-sited industrial and infrastructure equipment, has added monitoring software to track the health of the batteries in its Core Solar Power System product line.

The Core Solar Power products, which feature a PV panel, an integrated waterproof lithium battery and a mounting system, are sold as an alternative to traditional lead-acid batteries to power infrastructure equipment, such as cellular routers, network devices, air quality monitors, outdoor security cameras, irrigation systems, communications gateways and remote lighting.

The new monitoring software delivers information about the battery, its temperature, state of charge, power generated by solar panels and power consumed by the device.

“Given the value of the data and remote nature of these kinds of industrial Internet-of-Things applications, we developed a battery health monitoring system to help customers understand and make decisions about their deployments,” Voltaic Systems’ chief operating officer, Jeff Crystal, told pv magazine.

The monitoring system provides status snapshots via the cellular network, as well as time-series data (see graphic below), which can be used to warn of potential outages and provide potential corrective steps. “In one instance, a customer modified their power consumption during a particularly rainy week to maintain uptime. It works for single systems as well as for managing fleets of remote devices,” said Crystal.

The Core Solar Power System includes an integrated maximum power point tracking (MPPT) charge controller in addition to the battery and PV panel. The panel sizes range from 25 W to 200 W and the matching batteries range from 18 ah (5 kg) to 100 ah (33 kg). The dimensions range from 307 mm x 507 mm x 30 mm to 586 mm x 980 mm x 30 mm.

The Voltaic Systems products are often integrated into its customers’ solutions, such as the air quality monitoring system shown below, made by California-based Clarity Movement Co.

From pv magazine Global

Sinovoltaics, a Hong Kong-based technical compliance and quality assurance service firm, has released the second edition of its Sinovoltaics PV inverter manufacturer financial stability ranking. The company said the results, which are calculated since June 2020, provide insight into the stability of the scores over time. The report, which has a global scope, is free to download.

The Sinovoltaics’ financial stability ranking is based on a so-called Altmann Z-score, a quantitative formula that uses multiple corporate income and balance sheet values to measure the financial health of a company. It assesses a company’s financial strength through a credit-strength test based on profitability, leverage, liquidity, solvency, and activity ratios, according to Sinovoltaics.

A score that is 1.1 or lower indicates a higher probability of bankruptcy within the next two years, while a higher score of 2.6 or great

The inverter manufacturers leading the ranking are China’s Hoymiles Power Electronics, U.S.-based microinverter specialist Enphase Energy, Shenzen-based Kstar Science and Technology, Irish energy management specialist Eaton, China’s Goodwe and Sinexcel, Taiwan’s Delta Electronics, Clenergy and Hopewind, both based in China, and Switzerland’s ABB.

“Overall the global PV inverter market has grown steadily in tandem with worldwide solar PV installations. In this regard, we can see in our Sinovoltaics Manufacturer Ranking reports that the vast majority of the inverter makers included are financially healthy or stable,” Niclas Weimar, Sinovoltaics’ chief technology officer told pv magazine, adding that there are two inverter manufacturing trends worth noting.

“One [trend] is that Chinese inverter manufacturers are outpacing their European and U.S.-American peers in terms of global market share, with over 50% shared between Sungrow and Huawei,” said Weimar.

The other trend is that inverter manufacturers, along with many PV module makers, are “tapping into battery energy storage manufacturing” with Sungrow also taking the lead here as measured in MWh shipments, according to Weimar.

From pv magazine global

Researchers developed a novel vapor deposition method for all-inorganic perovskite absorbers using continuous flash sublimation (CFS).

They described the new technique as a non-batch process that solves two problems associated with the use of established vapor processing in perovskite material manufacturing – the slow speed of deposition and the non-continuous nature of batch processing.

“Our deposition approach allows for the continuous deposition of a fully absorbing perovskite material within less than five minutes,” corresponding author Tobias Abzieher from Swift Solar, a U.S.-based perovskite PV startup, told pv magazine. “Solar cells prepared with these materials also outperform previously realized efficiencies of vapor processed inorganic perovskite solar cells significantly.”

The researchers said that they are pursuing vapor processing because of its potential for high yield, high-quality and high reproducibility processing, and its potential to eliminate the use of hazardous solvents. Furthermore, it is seen as simplifying the scaling up to larger device areas. In addition, its performance on rough surfaces makes it attractive for perovskite-based tandem applications.

“The limited throughput of vapor processes for the deposition of perovskite materials remains the number one bottleneck for a swift commercialization. Researching alternative deposition strategies is therefore key,” David Moore, a researcher from the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and co-corresponding author told pv magazine.

The scientists fabricated a variety of “high-quality” cesium lead halide (CsPb(I_xBr_1−x)₃) thin films in a prototype system to test the versatility of the CFS approach, noting that the process was able to produce thin film compositions “across the entire bromine/iodine space maintaining the composition of the source materials”.

They noted that the CFS approach enabled the reduction of the time required to deposit a “fully absorbing layer to less than 5 minutes” in a continuous deposition process.

The CFS-derived films were made into working solar cell devices. The study’s champion solar cells achieved power conversion efficiencies as high as 14.9%, open-circuit voltage of 1.17 V, fill factor of 76.0%, and short-circuit current densities of 16.8 mA cm−2. The forward scan direction values were 10.3%, 1.12 V, 55.1%, and 16.7 mA cm−2, respectively.

The researchers describe the source material, a mechano-chemically synthesized powder, and how it is prepared by mixing individual precursor materials, cesium and lead salts into a stochiometric powder. They said it was flashed at high temperatures to overcome the differences in deposition characteristics of the individual precursor materials.

The powder was filled into a reservoir connected to a vibratory feeder, which in turn was connected to an AC signal. After moving along the vibratory feeder, the powder falls into a preheated tantalum evaporation boat kept at a temperature “significantly above” the highest sublimation temperature of the individual inorganic salts, typically in the range of 700 C. “Inside the evaporation boat, the powder constituents instantaneously sublime, leave the evaporation source, to finally condense on a substrate situated above the evaporation boat,” explained the team.

An annealing step at temperatures between 330 C and 380 C for 0.5 min to 1 min was implemented after the CFS step to “improve thin-film quality and to ensure stabilization of the correct photoactive perovskite phase”. The details are described in “Continuous flash sublimation of inorganic halide perovskites: overcoming rate and continuity limitations of vapor deposition,” published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry A.

The team concluded that the work is a critical step toward fast and continuous processing of perovskite materials, which is “highly suitable for the fast deposition of thin films whose individual constituents have significant differences in sublimation characteristics.”

“I can imagine that a process like this could be used for the industrial fabrication of perovskites. Throughput is one of the number one bottlenecks of vapor processing of perovskites, so developing novel approaches that overcome this limitation are crucial,” Abzieher said, when asked about technology transfer potential.

Looking ahead at research activity, David Moore said that NREL, for example, is looking into the use of the CFS method for other hard-to-deposit material classes, as well as investigating using this method with other types of perovskite materials, such as hybrid materials containing organic and inorganic precursor materials.

From pv magazine Global

Origami Solar, a U.S-based developer of a recycled steel module frame as an alternative to conventional aluminum frames announced it passed several key third party tests, now making its frames available to module manufacturers for validation and ready for production.

Origami said its rolled steel frames passed third party tests at U.S.-based CFV Labs and the Renewable Energy Test Center (RETC), the same tests that that customers will have to undergo on the way to certification, namely International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 61215 static mechanical load testing and IEC 61701 salt-mist corrosion testing and continuity testing of bonding. The Origami frames were also put through test-to-failure runs.

“Following these tests, it is clear that module makers will have no issues getting their modules certified with our current frame design. Our production-ready frames are available now to ship to module manufacturers for evaluation, testing and certification,” Origami Solar vice president of engineering Lauren Ahsler told pv magazine.

In a statement, Colin Sillerud, vice president of engineering at CFV Labs, indicated outperformance in the lab. “The steel-frame modules supplied by Origami to CFV for testing exhibited test-to-failure pressure values that were higher than similarly sized and constructed modules with aluminum frames. While CFV cannot say that laboratory tests translate directly to field performance, these results show a strong relative lab performance when compared to traditionally framed PV modules.”

The static mechanical load tests, specified in IEC 61215 were carried out with three cycles of one hour of down push pressure and one hour of uplift pressure at pressure levels of around 2400 Pa. “When using quarter point clamps along the module long side, with racking below the module, the modules passed the same cycle times but with down push pressure of 5400 Pa and uplift pressure of 3000 Pa,” said the manufacturer.

RETC’s salt mist corrosion and continuity testing on modules using Origami’s steel solar frames demonstrated similarly successful results, which the startup says confirms the corrosion protection performance of its zinc-aluminum-magnesium coatings.

“The salt mist testing methods are the type typically used for land-based solar, known as IEC 61701 method six,” explained the manufacturer, adding that the testing sequences also included testing for continuity bonding both pre-and-post salt mist sequences.

“While these are the first round of testing following the specific provisions set by the IEC and UL to validate the performance of our production-ready design, the combination of extensive prior testing and this latest round of tests have us ready to take our frame to production for our first customer early in 2025,” said Ahsler.

Origami Solar, which was founded in 2019 is a pv magazine 2023 award winner for manufacturing, it sees an opportunity to supply module manufacturers in the U.S. market who are switching from imported aluminum frames to domestically made steel frames. It also uses recycled steel from suppliers in the US and Europe in its frames to give it a competitive edge when it comes to greenhouse gas scoring as assessed by Boundless Impact

When it comes to price, Ahsler said, “Module makers will be the real winners thanks to our steel frames. For a competitive price, they will get a product with a completely domestic supply chain, with far less embodied carbon, and, as the testing shows, a product that offers greater protection.”

From pv magazine Global

A survey of 110 experts identified by the Transport and PV group at the International Energy Agency’s Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme (IEA-PVPS) Task 17 (T17) reveals a set of technical requirements or areas seen as important for the adoption of vehicle-integrated photovoltaics (VIPV) with a focus on passenger vehicles.

The study was conducted by the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) and includes experts’ views on what users may be willing to give up in terms of PV yield to achieve superior vehicle aesthetics.

When it comes to the choice of cell technology for VIPV, crystalline silicon (c-Si) is dominant with a clear preference for back contact technology and no visible metal. However, by 2030 survey respondents expect tandem and thin film technology to grow.

“The desire for minimal visibility of metal on the front side of cells, coupled with a preference for glass on roof components and polymer on other surfaces, indicates a strong aesthetic consideration in VIPV design,” said the researchers.

The study considered the variety of cell technologies available in prototype and commercial VIPV passenger cars. For example, startups Lightyear and Sono Motors used c-Si, while Japanese automakers Toyota and Nissan used Sharp’s III-V compound solar technology, and Germany’s Flixbus and European joint venture Volvo-Renault have used CIGS

Several system features, including color, charging frequency, and cost, were ranked with the most important being efficiency, additional mileage per year, and vehicle range extension. “The report underscores the paramount importance of these factors, alongside the significant benefit of reducing the need for charging,” noted the researchers.

Looking at efficiency based on an available area of 3 m2 area, the respondents agreed on the minimum power conversion efficiency of at least 20% to 22%, with power output ranging from 600 W to 660 W, while a large group, 29%,  said it should be greater than 25%, with power output reaching 750 W.

Module lifetime of at least 10 to 15 years was indicated, along with the need for repair concepts that include spot repairs for visible damage and full-body replacement parts for performance failures.

The cost of VIPV systems, manufacturing and installation costs, are expected to fall by as much as 60% by 2030, according to the survey results. The largest technical bottleneck to lower costs is the complexity of manufacturing.

Asked about surprising results, TNO scientist and co-leader of the task group, Anna J. Carr, told pv magazine, “Probably the amount of performance that people were willing to sacrifice to get the colors they wanted. Among the respondents who said more color choice, than black or dark blue, is required an average performance loss of 24.2% was indicated to be acceptable.”

Around 62% of respondents came from PV research, while 13% came from PV cell or module manufacturing, 9% from automotive manufacturing, and 8% from automotive research. The majority are from Europe, with just 20% from Asia and a small percentage from North America.

“The reason that so many of the respondents were European is that the invitations to take part in the survey went out to the companies and researchers that we knew who were already working on the topic. And it represents the membership mix of T17,” said Carr.

Looking ahead, the researchers recommended adding more industry professionals to the survey group to be able to develop a better understanding of VIPV preferences and requirements. In addition, the group is likely to expand the focus and look at VIPV in heavy-duty and commercial vehicles, according to Carr.

The objective of Task 17 of the IEA PVPS is to deploy PV in the transport sector, contributing to reducing CO2 emissions of the sector and enhancing PV market expansions.

From pv magazine Global

Sinovoltaics, a Hong Kong-based technical compliance and quality assurance service firm, has begun to publish supply chain reports about PV manufacturing in North American and European markets. In the pipeline is coverage of India and Southeast Asia.

Published in the form of infographics and data tables, the supply chain reports are free.

“We have been observing supply chain trends and movements for years and years, for example also witnessing the gradual growth of manufacturing in Southeast Asia, which is why we have nowadays quality engineering teams on-site at the factories in that region,” Sinovoltaics CTO Niclas Weimar told pv magazine. “This new type of report is basically putting our observations into report form, starting from this year onwards, helping to visualize the distribution of manufacturing capacities across different jurisdictions.”

The analysts expects the information to be used by solar developers and other buyers to locate manufacturers in relevant regions, assess the scalability of the supply chain for larger projects, or to source modules for projects more efficiently with an eye on reducing transportation costs and carbon emissions.

“The solar industry needs the most up-to-date module purchasing information,” said Dricus de Rooij, co-founder and CEO of Sinovoltaics in a statement. “Every four months, solar developers will have critical and dynamic data that will enable them to stay informed about emerging PV suppliers and the latest developments in global solar manufacturing.”

The supply chain reports cover current and planned manufacturing activity from 2023 to 2027 for producers of modules, cells, wafers, ingots, polysilicon, and multigrain silicon. It notes capacity at each of a manufacturers’ factory locations. There are also symbols indicating if a company is now bankrupt, or a manufacturing site is closed or on hold.

The first edition of North American report covers 81 sites in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, while the European version lists 91 sites across the region, including companies located in Kazakhstan and Turkey.

From pv magazine Global

Canada’s Capsolar, a manufacturer of vehicle-integrated PV (VIPV) systems, recently completed an electric tow tractor ground transport project.

“We designed, built and installed the solar PV system, including the electronic and physical integrations. It is used at one of the largest US-based automotive industry original equipment manufacturers (OEMs),” Capsolar’s CEO, Samy Benhamza, told pv magazine. “Our customer uses electric ground-support vehicles for heavy-duty material transport.”

The Capsolar system consists of 5.6 kW of power based on 20 solar panels, a high-efficiency controller system, and a data management tracking platform. It enables a 30% to 40% range increase per battery charge, according to Benhamza.

Looking ahead, the Canadian company is in discussion to equip the rest of the OEM’s fleet with “an improved and larger system with higher efficiency.”

The U.S. ground support vehicle project comes on the back of Capsolar completing construction of a 3 MW pilot line at 560.3 m2 facility in Montreal, Quebec.

Capsolar was founded in 2020 and began developing custom PV systems for small vehicles, such as electric golf carts, and has since expanded into electric passenger vehicles, boating and ground transportation applications.

It typically uses cells supplied by US-based manufacturer Maxeon that have 24% efficiency, along with high-efficiency charge controllers to optimize power output. The company can customize module shape, texture, size, and color to match clients’ requests.

From pv magazine Global

Since 2016, there has been $2.4 billion worth of venture capital flowing to companies developing technologies to decarbonize aviation, according to Dealroom.co, a Netherlands-based provider of global data and intelligence on startups and tech ecosystems.

The segment had a strong start in 2024, noted Dealroom.co senior analyst Lorenzo Chiavarini.

“Aviation is one of the segments where we still don’t have a clear winning technology path to decarbonization to reach 2050 net-zero targets,” he told pv magazine. “In my assessment, it could be a threat or opportunity, either we don’t hit the targets, or we hit the targets thanks to huge investments and technological advances. A third option is we hit the targets thanks to massive social change. That is, flying becomes something we only do if there is no other alternative. So, if we want people to fly, and limit climate disruption and biodiversity collapse, we need to get serious about decarbonizing aviation now.”

Based on Dealroom.co data, a total of $2.4 billion was invested in the so-called sustainable aviation since 2016. “Under sustainable aviation, we include things like electric aircraft, aircraft batteries, and hydrogen aircraft; sustainable aviation fuels such as e-fuels and biofuels, as well as new aircraft models, airships, and software solutions for contrail avoidance,” he explained.

The startups that attracted most of the funding are developing electric aircraft, hydrogen aircraft, e-fuels and biofuels. Biofuel is the most mature of these segments while electric, hydrogen and e-fuels are emerging.

“Funding peaked in 2022 at almost $700 million before dropping 50% to $337 million in 2023,” Chiavarini said. “Interestingly, early-stage investments stayed nearly constant from 2021 to 2023, more than double the level of any previous year. It enabled a strong early-stage startup scene that needs to prove it can scale in the next few years. Also notable, Europe seems to have gained a share of innovation by both the amount invested and the number of rounds.”

Venture capital across all sectors decreased 38% from 2022 to 2023, totaling less than half of the 2021 peak, even considering the hype about artificial intelligence startups. “Sustainable aviation is not exactly mirroring the broader market, as it is such an emerging segment, especially the technologies for electric and hydrogen aircraft and e-fuels,” Chiavarini stated.

From pv magazine Global

Canadian solar simulator developer G2V Optics and Sinton Instruments, a US-based PV characterization specialist, have created a solar simulator for solar cells and modules.

The new instrument supports both characterization and a Class AAA light in a single tool. It is designed to test all solar cell technologies, but with a focus on perovskite-silicon tandem cells and encapsulated mini-modules. It contains a fully programmable and tunable spectrum steady-state LED light combined with Sinton Instruments’ solar cell testing hardware and advanced characterization analysis software.

Named FCT-650SE, the instrument has a multi-source LED solar simulator with up to 36 tunable channels for spectrum control, integrated current versus voltage (IV) curve recording, and Suns-Voc measurement capability. It can perform both flash and continuous lighting tests. Also supported are maximum power point tracking (MPPT), light soaking, and automated measurement sequences.

Some of the supported tests and measurements include full IV curve, short circuit current, open circuit voltages, maximum power point, fill factor, efficiency, series resistance, shunt resistance, and Suns-Voc. For silicon devices, it can also measure bulk lifetime, lifetime at max power, substrate doping, substrate thickness, and power loss analysis.

The system has a footprint of approximately 4,645 cm2, which the manufacturer said is on par or slightly more compact than other solar simulators with similar illumination areas.

Its voltage and current range are 40 V and 20 A for silicon and 2.4 A for perovskite tandem devices. The temperature-controlled chuck can accommodate samples that range in size from 2 mm2 to 210 mm2. Custom chuck designs for unusual sizes are available from the manufacturer.

The testing instrument is available from both companies. Several units have already been built and delivered to customers, according to the manufacturers.

From pv magazine global

Worksport, a Canadian company with manufacturing in New York and China, announced a protective solar cover and kit for pickup trucks. The kit includes a battery and an inverter and is meant to be a portable power source for leisure activities, such as camping, or as a temporary backup to recharge electronics or small appliances during power outages.

Conceived for vehicle-integrated photovoltaics (VIPV), the solar tonneau cover, Solis, will be sold in a kit with a Worksport inverter, Hub, and a 2000 W, 120 V AC 60 Hz rechargeable battery, dubbed Cor.

The kit is intended as an off-grid energy solution for consumers. “We will begin sales with the North American market and will eventually expand to global markets,” a company spokesperson told pv magazine.

The initial Solis truck bed cover is designed for the Ford-F150 Lightning. The solar modules contain M10 cells with 22% efficiency provided by an undisclosed supplier. “We will use flexible mono-crystalline cells that provide 170 W/m2, after conversion. The weight will be between 10 kg and 11 kg per m2,” they added. The performance figures are considered under 1000 W/m² solar irradiance.

The company will be marketing the product in a kit that includes truckbed mounting brackets and cables.

The battery is a 2000 W, unit with 1534 kWh, 120 V AC, 60 Hz capacity. It has a lithium nickel, cobalt and manganese (Li-NCM) battery cell. The rated voltage is 48 V and the minimum voltage is 40.3 V. The battery’s maximum discharge current is 60 A, and the maximum charge current is 20 A. The discharge temperature is -20 C to 65 C while the battery charging temperature range is 0 C to 55 C.

The inverter unit has an output frequency of 60 Hz, and maximum output power of 3 kW. It has a 200 Wh hot swap capacity, overload protection, 4 DC outlets, plus ports for USB and cigarette lighter connector charging.

Solis is not yet available for purchase. Worksport said in a statement that products are in the testing phase. The final prices are not confirmed. Estimated price for the battery is $1,499, including the inverter, one external battery, and charging cables. Bundled with Solis, the price is estimated to be $3,499.

Some of the scenarios seen by Worksport besides camping, include charging devices, such as cellphones, tablets, or other electronics, during power outages in the home or office. It is not meant for charging electric vehicle (EV) charging systems. The company said it may develop such technology in the future as its internal estimates suggested that the PV cover could provide enough charging to provide a potential additional range of up to 10 miles a day.

The solar cover will also be available on standard internal combustion engine trucks, according to the company.

From pv magazine global

Verde Technologies, a spinoff of the University of Vermont, developing lightweight and flexible perovskite solar modules, has made progress with its thin film coating technology in a pilot with Verico Technology, a contract manufacturer located in Connecticut.

The partners completed the deposition of perovskite solution on a flexible substrate measuring 76.2 cm x 6,096 cm using standard manufacturing processes, equipment, and environmental conditions. The novel coating tool and process is dubbed Verde Slot Coating.

“Verde Slot Coating achieves the scalability associated with slot-die coating, while significantly accelerating iteration cycles and film optimization,” Verde Technologies CEO, Skylar Bagdon, told pv magazine.

“This means we can make rapid progress on a small scale but unlike spin-coating or blade coating, the findings are transferable to large commercial roll-to-roll systems, as the pilot with Verico makes clear,” said Bagdon.

The Vermont-based company intends to develop single junction and all thin-film tandem perovskite solar technologies. Its perovskite cell technology has reportedly a lab-scale power conversion efficiency of above 21%.

Looking ahead, Bagdon said, “Verde’s next phase of development will be focused on outdoor testing of modules with early customers.” He added that the team will be doing testing with the Perovskite PV Accelerator for Commercializing Technologies (PACT) consortium and at new solar research and testing facility recently opened in Burlington, Vermont.

The company’s commercial roadmap is to initially target repowering projects, typically utility scale projects exchanging end-of-life panels with higher-performing panels, before expanding to other lightweight PV segments, such as “large commercial metal and membrane” rooftops.

Verde was able to tap into national U.S. research and development programs. For example, last summer Verde entered a collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Northern Illinois University (NIU) which gives it access to some of NREL’s perovskite breakthroughs, such as lead sequestration and active encapsulation.

Verde also has an exclusive partnership with the University of Toledo to commercialize its perovskite cell technology with promising stability performance.

Most recently, the company was the grand prize winner in the latest round of the US Department of Energy’s Perovskite Startup Prize for its progress, focus on domestic solar manufacturing, scalability and collaboration , according to Bogdan.

From pv magazine global

Germany’s Fraunhofer ISE has fabricated a perovskite-silicon tandem solar module with a glass-glass design.

The panel has a power conversion efficiency of 25% and an output of 421 W. It measures 1.68m² and uses cells produced by Oxford PV, a UK-based perovskite solar cell manufacturer with pilot production in Germany. Oxford PV says that the module was assembled by the Fraunhofer team using its specifications.

“This new world record is a crucial milestone for Oxford PV, proving that our tandem solar cells can deliver record-breaking performance when assembled into solar panels,” Oxford PV CEO David Ward said in a statement.

The tandem cells produced by Oxford PV are M6-format. Last year, the company broke a record with a verified cell efficiency of 28.6 %. The tandem cells are currently produced in a small series line in Brandenburg, Germany, with commercial production slated for later this year.

The researchers said they utilized commercially available PV production equipment installed at the Fraunhofer Module Technology Evaluation Center (Module-TEC) and optimized the processes to make the glass-glass modules. “The fact that mass production-compatible technology was used for its manufacture demonstrates the enormous potential of tandem technology for the PV industry,” said Stefan Glunz, head of PV at Fraunhofer ISE.

The solar cells were interconnected using conductive bonding equipment at Fraunhofer ISE’s Module-TEC. As the perovskite layer of the tandem cells is temperature-sensitive, the research team said it had to develop low-temperature processes for the interconnection and encapsulation of the solar cells.

“In the future, we will also be testing another alternative: soldering the solar cells at low temperatures,” said Achim Kraft, who heads up the interconnection technology group at Fraunhofer ISE. “These are suitable for industrial mass production and can be implemented on commercial systems. The necessary adaptions can also easily be implemented in today’s PV production lines”

For the calibration measurements, the Fraunhofer ISE tapped its well-equipped calibration lab to determine the module efficiency, noting that precise and reproducible statements about the tandem module’s power, are only possible if both the perovskite and the silicon cell layers are illuminated by appropriate LED light sources under conditions as close as possible to natural sunlight.

“As the currently standardized measurement methods are not fully transferable to this new technology, the method used was additionally validated with field measurements,” noted the researchers.

The project teams from Fraunhofer ISE and Oxford PV are now working towards certification of the PV module and tests on long-term stability.

From pv magazine Global

Perovskite solar technology company Solaires Entreprises has switched on a pilot production line to manufacture indoor perovskite PV modules in Langford, British Columbia.

The company wants to sell the panels to automotive, consumer electronics, sensor, and LED component manufacturers. “The pilot line will produce 200,000 units per year, each unit measures 3.82 cm x 7.62 cm,” Solaires CEO Fabian De La Fuente told pv magazine.

The types of applications Solaires targets include self-charging electronic devices, wireless keyboards, smart door locks, electronic shelf labels, and sensors. Solaires says its modules can be standalone or paired with rechargeable batteries.

Solaires will produce the complete stack in-house.

“We have all the equipment to do so. Our manufacturing process is a sheet-to-sheet process for rigid glass substrates using slot-die coating, screen printing, laser ablation and lamination. We also have in-house quality control and testing equipment,” said De La Fuente, adding that the manufacturing equipment is commercially available and scalable.

The modules are based on perovskite tuned for indoor light absorption and have a power conversion of 35% in indoor light. Current prototypes have an aperture area of 17.22 cm2 and an active area of 14.70 cm2.

From pv magazine Global

Nexwafe, a German epitaxial wafer manufacturer that is currently building a 250 MW factory in Bitterfeld, Germany, has announced that it has established a U.S. subsidiary.

The company said in a statement that it is evaluating the development of multi-gigawatt-scale solar wafer manufacturing in the U.S. market, with an initial target production volume of 6 GW.

From pv magazine global

Tandem PV, a San Jose, California-based startup company developing mechanically-stacked, four-terminal, perovskite-silicon modules, announced a $6 million venture funding round. The company, which was founded in 2016, said it will use the funds to accelerate towards commercialization, investing in research and development and plans for its first manufacturing facility.

The round was led by existing investor Planetary Technologies, an early-stage venture capital firm, joined by new compatriot investor Uncorrelated Ventures.

The new capital is a validation of the venture’s progress in terms of stability, power conversion efficiency, and module size, according to Tandem PV, CEO, Scott Wharton. “Everyone talks about durability and stability, but we are able to demonstrate it,” he told pv magazine.

“Our indoor tests are showing 80% performance after 25 years equivalent. The encapsulated tandem module’s power conversion efficiency is 26% with conventional PERC cells,” said Wharton, adding that the modules measure 100 cm2, with newer ones at 300 cm2.

The company did not provide more details about the module and cell technology.

Tandem PV is one of multiple teams using the U.S. Department of Energy’s PV Accelerator for Commercializing Technologies (PACT) for independent performance and reliability testing for all varieties of perovskite PV modules and mini modules, including field testing.

To date, the company has raised $27 million in venture capital and government support. It expects the latest financing round to help bring in customer agreements and to begin building the first plant. The next steps for this year are third-party validation of the performance metrics, specifically efficiency and durability, and to take part in outdoor testing programs.

The performance tests are the latest step that seven-year-old Tandem PV is taking toward commercializing its mechanically stacked panels. It has fabricated 100 cm² panels which have passed IEC 61215 accelerated tests with academic partners, and has received initial data on passing triple-length duration IEC 61215 tests, as Colin Bailie, CTO, told pv magazine in a 2023 interview.

The initial application Tandem PV will target is utility-scale PV.

From pv magazine Global

Thin-film perovskite solar cells made with carbon electrode back contacts, instead of metal ones, provide the opportunity to use low-temperature cell processes, with fewer steps, while ensuring stability. However, the advantages have always come at the cost of power conversion efficiency – until very recently.

“This year carbon electrode-based devices broke the psychological barrier of 20%, efficiency with several teams in several different locations announcing they had crossed the threshold,” Lukas Wagner, a researcher at Philipps-University Marburg, told pv magazine.

With  stability and efficiency on an upwards trajectory, there are now enough c-PSC companies and research teams exploring the technology to merit a conference – the First International Conference on Carbon Electrode-based Perovskite Solar Cells. It has attracted 34 speakers and more than 220 participants to participate in October, according to Wagner.

The ability to print the all or most of the cell stack is also a big part of the appeal of carbon electrodes.

“The cell stacks can be printed which eases upscaling and process with low capital expenditure,” said Wagner.

From pv magazine global

An international research group has used quantitative models to analyze data about the flow of iron, copper, aluminum, and other precious metals from source to end-use destination in the renewable energy infrastructure value chain to reveal trends and potential risks.

The study found a growing inequality in metal footprints, which are defined in the paper as the total metal ores embodied in the renewable power value chains. The authors said this kind of uneven activity may “hinder the just net-zero transition and climate change mitigation actions” and that there is an urgency “to establish a metal-efficient and green supply chain for upstream suppliers [source countries of metals] as well as downstream renewable power installers for just transition in the power sector across the globe.”

Noting that the amount of metal used in renewable energy infrastructure has increased by 97% in the ten-year period from 2005 to 2015, the paper’s authors examined the flow of metals in seven value chains, including solar, solar thermal, ocean, wind, hydro, bioenergy, and geothermal.

They developed a multi-regional input-output model and a value chain decomposition model that are said to enable the analysis of the activity for worldwide regions and individual countries. They sourced data from Exiobase, a dataset used that estimates emissions and resource extractions by industry, developed by a consortium of research institutes in projects financed by the European research framework programs.

The scientists found imbalances within the global value chains studied and attributed them to the continuous outsourcing of metal demand for the renewable power sector to developing economies. “Developed economies occupy the high-end segments of the renewable power value chain, while allocating metal-intensive (but low value-added) production activities to developing economies,” they also stated, noting that some economies are contributing a considerable amount of metal from their reserves to fulfill foreign demand but have only minimal economic benefit.

The academics presented their findings in the paper “Tracing metal footprints via global renewable power value chains,” published in nature communications. The research group comprises scientists from China’s Shandong University, Fudan University, Guangxi University, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), as well as from the University of Maryland in the United States.

“Our results indicate that the trade structure can be modified to mitigate metal supply risk and consumption inequality along global renewable power value chains (RPVCs) among economies,” they concluded. “Import-dependent developed economies can adjust the distribution of traded goods towards metal-efficient sources.”

From pv magazine global

Maxeon has completed a $70 million refurbishing project to bring the capacity of its shingled-cell Performance line solar module plant in Mexicali, Mexico, up to 1.8 GW. The plan to upgrade the module plant was first reported by pv magazine two years ago.

Maxeon also has a second factory in Ensenada, in the same state of Baja California. The combined capacity of its two module plants in Mexico is 2.5 GW, with a workforce of about 2,000 people.

The company said in a statement that it has made cumulative investments of more than $260 million in the region. It claimed that its Mexicali location is now one of the “largest solar panel manufacturing facilities” in the Americas.

“Due to its talented workforce, its privileged geographical location, and a favorable business environment, today Baja California plays and will continue to play an increasingly relevant role in meeting the growing demand for our products in North America and the rest of the world in the coming years,” said Maxeon CEO Bill Mulligan.