Technical Papers

The deployment of renewable energy, especially solar, is becoming ever more popular. It is estimated that with every 1% increase in PV cell efficiency, electricity costs would decrease by 7%; therefore, improving solar cell efficiency is very important for reducing the average electricity-generating cost of solar and driving it towards grid parity.

Bifacial PV technology raises new challenges for the characterization and modelling of solar cells and modules, as well as for the yield predictions of power plants, as the contribution of the rear side can significantly affect the performance of these types of device.

Nowadays, there is a worldwide production capacity of about 5GW of thin-film module technology. In total, an estimated cumulative installed capacity of 15 to 24GW exists (5-8% of 300GW installed worldwide in 2016). But how serious is the threat of PID in this thin-film fleet?

By the end of 2017 it is expected that boron-doped multicrystalline silicon (p-type mc-Si) wafers will have been used in more than 60% of the world’s manufactured solar cells.

Since its first publication in 2015, the PERC+ cell concept, which is based on a passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC) design with a screen-printed Al finger grid on the rear, has been rapidly adopted by several solar cell manufacturers worldwide.

In 2015, estimated annual global volumes of electronic waste (e-waste) reached a record 43.8 million metric tons and global e-waste generation is expected to increase up to 50 million metric tons by 2018. Even though solar PV panels significantly differ from typical consumer electronic products, global regulators view PV panels increasingly in the context of e-waste regulations. Solar PV currently accounts for less than 1% of total annual e-waste volumes.

Abu Dhabi’s giant 1.2GW Sweihan PV plant made headlines last year for achieving a record low bid price. With construction well underway, Tom Kenning and John Parnell look at how the project is being executed.

Clean energy entrepreneur Jigar Shah, one of the pioneers of solar finance, is turning his attentions to other low-carbon energy technologies such as storage. He tells Andy Colthorpe about his latest equity round and the freedom he enjoys to back projects he thinks will have greatest impact

Blockchain technology is being touted as the next big step forward in the digitalisation of the energy system. But storage and storage management software are the critical pieces of the puzzle needed to maximise its potential, writes Carsten Reincke-Collon.

New storage and renewable energy technologies offer a potentially disruptive alternative to costly, unpopular investment in grid infrastructure improvements. Alex Eller looks at the opportunities for non-wire alternatives to maintaining transmission and distribution networks