Technology and R&D

Setting up of the microgrid with battery energy storage is part of an extended R&D collaboration between ABB and the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee to create platforms for research on smart city technology deployment.

High solar irradiance and few cloudy days are ideal for solar. Fine dust and extreme heat is not – particularly when it comes to power electronics. As the distributed generation market segment emerges across hot climates, extreme conditions are a challenge inverter suppliers are grappling with.

Union Minister for Science & Technology, Dr Harsh Vardhan will launch the solar technology centre at IIT Madras on January 25, 2019. The Centre will focus on a wide range of research and development activities such as silicon solar cells that promise high efficiency and are suited for Indian conditions.

Although the solar industry sees itself as young, its assets are aging. Owners still struggle with the complexity of making the best use of big data analysis to improve plant efficiency and profitability. Ragna Schmidt-Haupt, of Everoze, examines why this has not changed, and what can or should be improved. Artificial intelligence, advanced data analytics, automated assessments and smart monitoring software – holistic solar asset management starts here.

The test facility, to be set up by the Maxop Research and Testing Institute, will be capable of testing solar water pumping systems and other solar products in compliance with Bureau of Indian Standards guidelines and international standards.

The new ‘cerenergy’ system that has been developed in Germany can operate without air conditioning by using vacuum insulation even in extreme temperatures. With no rare earths required for manufacture, the product’s basic material is salt.

Researchers say the use of clustering-based computation could remove the need for on-site inspections of panels by instead enabling real-time monitoring of degradation using only meteorological data.

In his keynote address at a Make in India session at the Energy Storage India 2019 event in New Delhi, the minister for commerce and industry urged the storage sector to make products that are useful in an Indian context.

With the announcement of a National Energy Storage Mission expected this month, 2019 is set to be a year of manufacturing and research and development opportunities in India’s storage sector

The tension between the cost cutting and performance boosting opportunities presented by new technologies and the tendency for risk aversion is never more evident than in PV module materials. This applies nowhere more than in backsheets, where new innovations are big on promise, but must convince manufacturers and the market of their long-term performance.