North America

Taiwanese market research company EnergyTrend says the 5/31 policy change in China last year had a less dramatic effect on global demand than expected and, with the Modi government introducing solar-friendly policies, India – and Japan – will close the gap on the world leaders for installed PV capacity.

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.

Battery storage is racing even faster than the PV market did a few years ago. Costs are plummeting and new production lines are popping up all around the world. Smart people with smart ideas are leveraging venture capital and research funds. M&A activity is also accelerating with a new range of investors taking interest. But the technology battle is far from over, says Ragna Schmidt-Haupt, Partner at Energy Consultancy Everoze.

The leading trio – China, the United States and India – will comprise 70% of the projected 552 GW of solar capacity, which will be added between end-2017 and 2027, finds Fitch Solutions, which has revised down its original forecast for solar capacity growth in China. The curbed growth in China, due to subsidy cuts and restricted access to the United States and India, is expected to squeeze domestic solar equipment manufacturers, but also lead to access to cheaper solar panels in other smaller markets.

Although the “solar flow battery” is currently considered too expensive by its own creators, a further improvement of its design and the use of emerging solar materials and new electrochemistry may open new opportunities for this kind of technology.

This means that this promising material, contrary to common belief, is able to form domains of polarized strain to minimize elastic energy. The research team made its discovery by using multimodal imaging.

Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, have set a new record 22.4% conversion efficiency for a tandem cell combining a lead-based perovskite layer with CIGS technology. The record has been confirmed by the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Research conducted over several years by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) demonstrates that air pollution in cities can put a dampener on the performance of PV panels which, if not taken into account, can threaten a project’s viability.

Bloomberg New Energy Finance says EVs will make up only 7% of new car sales in nation by 2030, compared to a predicted 44% for European sales, 41% in China, 34% in the US and 17% in Japan

U.S. technology company Microlink Devices has achieved a record efficiency of 37.75% on its triple junction thin film cells. The lightweight cell achieves a power density of more than 3000 W/kg, and is designed for use in satellites and unmanned air vehicles (UAVs). The new efficiency record is confirmed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.