Technical Papers

The introduction of large-format modules promises to pose both benefits and challenges to developers. Christopher West, head of central engineering at Solarcentury, explores the many considerations PV designers must bear in mind now large-area modules are on the market.

The advancement of solar cell and module technology has meant ever larger, higher power modules are being manufactured, shipped and installed at increasing speeds, placing renewed importance on product testing and inspection. Here, Enertis explores the role of electroluminescence inspection throughout the lifespan of a PV project.

The proliferation of renewables and other distributed energy resources is pushing existing grid infrastructure to the limit, prompting renewed efforts to modernise. But with new hardware coming at such a high price, it’s imperative these investments get the biggest bang for their buck. Here, the US Interstate Renewable Energy Council establishes five key principles for grid modernisation.

As the proliferation of grid-scale renewables accelerates, capacity on national grids is diminishing just as quickly, leading to harder to find and ever-costlier connection agreements. Liam Stoker assesses some of the alternative options grid operators are exploring to extortionate grid upgrades.

As green hydrogen starts to gain a foothold in the decarbonisation journey, Alice Grundy looks at the more developed markets for the technology, the measures needed to scale further and the role of solar PV.

Joe Biden’s victory in November’s US election may have taken some time to certify, but there’s every chance his tenure in the White House will be worth the wait for US solar. Molly Lempriere looks at what a Biden administration will do for the industry.

Despite its generation characteristics, floating solar has yet to truly fulfil its undoubted potential. Jules Scully explores why the technology continues to face hurdles, and what the industry is doing to surpass them.

While COVID-19 may have dominated headlines internationally this year, 2020 has been a year of considerable progress for the global solar supply chain. Here, the PV Tech editorial team re-cap some of the biggest and most impactful stories of the year.

This paper presents preliminary results of SERIS’ biPolyTM cell: the bifacial application of polysiliconbased passivating contact stacks with front and rear screen-printed and fired metallization.

This work reports the latest results obtained at Jolywood for full-area (251.99cm2) n-type bifacial passivating-contact solar cells using a cost-effective process with industrially-feasible boron diffusion, phosphorus ion implantation and low-pressure chemical vapour deposition (LPCVD) with in situ oxidation.