Japanese scientists have designed a cooling system that reduces the solar panel operating temperature at the air inlet of the module. It consists of a dew-point evaporative cooler that supplies the near-saturation air to wet air channels that are attached to the back of a PV panel.

New figures provided to pv magazine by Rystad Energy reveal that the amount of unsold panels in European warehouses may have more then doubled between mid-July and the end of August, and that it may reach 100 GW by the end of the year. Analyst Marius Mordal Bakke explained that PERC modules bought and stored by a European distributor for $0.23/W in March are now facing an average spot price of $0.16/W today, which could very likely be $0.15/W next month.

An international research group has analyzed a vertical bifacial agrivoltaics system in a drought-stricken part of Chile. They say that the solar array can improve water efficiency for crop irrigation, while the vertical system configuration optimizes PV power generation throughout the day, minimizing curtailment.

The two research institutes said the multijunction solar cell is based on silicon, gallium indium phosphide (GaInP) and gallium arsenide (GaAs). The device utilizes a specially designed metal/polymer nanocoating that reportedly optimizes the distribution of light scattering beyond the total internal reflection critical angle in the cell.

The battery packages include a battery, an inverter and a control system. The US manufacturer claims its storage systems have a lifespan of over 10,000 cycles and a depth of discharge of 80%.

The European Solar Manufacturing Council (ESMC) is urging the European Union to adopt legislation against forced labor in the PV industry, by explicitly calling for measures to prevent solar products produced with forced labor from entering the European market.

Indian scientists have produced high-purity polysilicon ingots from recycled solar cells using “spark plasma sintering” (SPS), and claim they may achieve a purity level comparable to commercially available products.

Despite soiling and mechanical stress, PV deployed between or close to rail tracks is not just a crazy idea, states a Bangladeshi-Australian research group. The scientists conducted a techno-economic analysis on a 128 kW demonstrator and found it may achieve a levelized cost of energy of only $0.052/kWh.

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said in the 2023 State of the Union Address this week that European solar manufacturers face stiff competition from heavily subsidized Chinese rivals and noted that the bloc is launching an anti-subsidy investigation into electric vehicles from the country.

REC has developed a new series of heterojunction solar panels with efficiencies up to 22.6% and an operating temperature coefficient of -0.24% per degree Celsius.