Technology and R&D

The preliminary proposals must reach the ministry by June 30. These will be examined by a committee and the shortlisted parties will be invited to submit final proposal.

Chinese solar modules currently meet around 80% of India’s demand. Domestic modules face stiff competition from those imported from China, which cost 10-20% less, even after the imposition of safeguard duties.

Electric vehicles could account for more than half of all passenger cars and buses sold throughout the world within the next two decades, according to a new report by BloombergNEF. Sliding lithium-ion battery costs will make EVs cheaper than vehicles based on internal combustion engines by the mid- to late-2020s, the research firm says.

U.S.-based PV Evolution Labs (PVEL) has found that Vikram Solar’s Somera monocrystalline silicon and Eldora polycrystalline silicon PV modules met and exceeded international quality and performance benchmarks.

A research team has applied a waterproof coating obtained from graphite to a perovskite cell intended to power the production of hydrogen underwater. The cell is said to have worked underwater longer than expected.

Waste-to-energy, battery lifecycle solutions and hazardous waste management will make up an increased share of Fortum’s business in future. While solar will continue to be a mainstay for the Finnish clean energy company in India, Fortum wants to deepen its presence in the electric vehicle space with smart solutions, according to Sanjay Aggarwal, the company’s India MD, and Juha Suomi, area director for Asia, who spoke exclusively to pv magazine.

According to the Korean manufacturer, its Q.Peak Duo-G6 module is produced with larger wafers than those used in the G5. This is said to increase module yield by around 6% for a power output ranging from 355-420 W.

Government-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals and the Automotive Research Association of India will combine their respective strengths in technology development and testing and certification to work on electric and trolley buses, EV chargers and battery and charger testing.

Founded in 2016, Prescinto Technologies is an industrial internet of things solution provider to the solar sector. After two years, Prescinto has found a footing in 13 countries across 4 GW of solar plant capacity. Backed by Gensol Group’s engineering experience across 20 GWs of renewable projects, Prescinto is able to transform that knowledge into code and empowers plants ‘onboarded’ on its platform.

The result was certified by the solar cells laboratory at the calibration and test center of Germany’s Institute for Solar Energy Research. Imec’s measurements showed cell bifaciality surpassed 80%.