In grids increasingly dominated by renewables, grid-forming technology is emerging as critical tool for maintaining stability and ensuring reliable power system operation. In this interview with ESS News, Rui Sun, Sungrow’s Deputy General Manager-Grid Technology Center, explains how grid-forming works, why it matters, and where the technology is already proving its value. He elaborates on technical challenges, regulatory gaps, and why grid-forming could soon become the new industry standard.| pv magazine International
The cell is based on ferrocene and is claimed to retain more than 98% of its initial efficiency after continuously operating at the maximum power point for 1,500 hours under standard illumination conditions.| pv magazine International
Researchers in Germany have built a perovskite-organic solar cell with low interfacial losses and a high open-circuit voltage. The device achieved an open-circuit voltage of 2.15 V, a short-circuit current of 14.0 mA cm−², and a fill factor of 80%.| pv magazine International
Developed by scientists in Saudi Arabia, the perovskite cell was able to retain over 95% of its initial efficiency after 1,000 hours at damp-heat test conditions. The cell was fabricated with a substrate made of glass and indium tin oxide (ITO), 2D layers, a 3D perovskite layer, an electron-selective layer, a buffer layer based on bathocuproine (BCP), and silver metal contact.| pv magazine International
Saudi Arabian scientists have developed a perovskite sub-cell of a tandem device with a molecule that prevents the migration of ions into the perovskite film, even under humid conditions. The solar cell has an efficiency of 28.6%.| pv magazine International
The result was certified by Germany's Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems’ (ISE) CalLab and included in the charts of the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory.| pv magazine International
Scientists at Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems have broken two of their own records for cell efficiency, working with silicon and III-V material tandem cells. The institute hit 34.1% on a triple junction cell using wafer bonding technology and 24.3% by directly depositing III-V layers onto a silicon solar cell.| pv magazine International
The cell features an open-circuit voltage of 1.1 V and a short-circuit current of 26 milliampere per cm-2, which the research team described as the best performance for an inverted perovskite cell based on single-crystal methylammonium lead triiodide. The device was built with a microns-thick absorber layer placed between an electron transport top layer and a hole-transport bottom layer.| pv magazine International
Scientists in the U.S. laid out the rationale behind new PV module testing specifications published last year, which aim to better take into account the role of temperature in various types of performance loss. They suggest a new ‘98th percentile’ approach to measuring module operating temperatures, which would offer system designers a better understanding of the module’s performance in a particular ‘micro-environment’.| pv magazine International
Scientists in Turkey have tested a transient thermal model to predict PV module temperature during a five-day interval in June. The model considers the heat capacity of a PV module, which is usually not provided by manufacturers in their product sheets, as a parameter for temperature prediction.| pv magazine International
New outdoor tests conducted at Saudi research center King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) have shown that an increase in temperature affects the performance of a tandem perovskite/silicon solar cell not only because of voltage losses but also because of current mismatch between the two sub-cells.| pv magazine International
The US Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has confirmed Longi's achievement of a world record-breaking efficiency rating of 33.9% for a perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell.| pv magazine International
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has made highly bifacial perovskite cells with a front-side efficiency of 23%.| pv magazine International
Researchers in Saudi Arabia have built an inverted perovskite-silicon tandem device with a 1 nm thick interlayer based on magnesium fluoride (MgFx). They claim it can stop voltage losses and increase power conversion efficiency, while retaining 95.4% of its initial efficiency after 1,000 hours.| pv magazine International
Scientists demonstrated a perovskite-silicon tandem cell that reached 27% conversion efficiency. Though higher tandem cell efficiencies have been achieved, this represents a big jump in efficiency for those utilizing n-i-p architecture, which previously had not surpassed 22%.| pv magazine International
A new model to assess the role of module temperature in PV power plant economics, developed by scientists in Saudi Arabia, finds that keeping modules cool could be an even more effective strategy to increasing energy yield than pursuing further gains in cell efficiency. The model finds that reducing module temperature by three degrees has a similar impact on energy yield to a 1% increase in conversion efficiency.| pv magazine International
