Graphene Solar: Introduction and Market News - Page 2

First Graphene has reported the addition of graphene to perovskite solar cells (PSC) can improve efficiency to up to 30.6% and reduce production costs by up to 80%.

The company has partnered with Halocell Energy and Queensland University of Technology to develop graphene-enhanced PSCs through the addition of its PureGRAPH novel functionalized graphene. A three-year AU$2.03 million grant under the federal government’s Co-operative Research Centers Projects (CRC-P) program is funding the research and development agreement, which commenced in 2023.

It was reported that Bold Energy has partnered with ZNShine Solar, adding it to its portfolio of manufacturers. The partnership includes the distribution of photovoltaic modules with HJT (Heterojunction) technology, designed to increase the efficiency and reliability of solar power generation.

According to José Vitor Salm, director of Bold Energy, the initiative expands the company's technological options. "Having a leading manufacturer in our portfolio reinforces Bold's commitment to offering the best solutions on the market. HJT brings real gains in performance and reliability, generating more value for our partners and the end customer". According to Salm, the HJT technology used in the modules of ZNShine Solar combines bifacial generation with high efficiency, enabling greater energy production, as well as the low temperature coefficient that maintains performance even in hotter environments.

ZNShine Solar, a photovoltaic module manufacturer, presented the main highlights of its portfolio at the Intersolar South America event: graphene-coated modules, BIPV technologies and smart energy – storage plus inverter – for all types of installation.

Photo credit: ZNShine

According to Derek Wang, Sales Director at ZNShine Solar, the company's flagship product is its modules. He points out that all of the manufacturer's panel lines are equipped with several advanced technologies, such as half cell, multi busbar, high-density encapsulation and exclusive and patented graphene coating technology on the panels. 

Frontier IP, a specialist in commercializing intellectual property, has announced that its portfolio company GraphEnergyTech (Frontier IP holds a 23.97% equity stake in GraphEnergyTech) has entered into a collaboration with the Taiwan Perovskite Solar Corporation, Taiwan's prestigious Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), and the University of Cambridge to drive development of perovskite solar technology. 

This new project that the four organizations have formed will be called Graphene Electrode Technology for Perovskite Solar Cells (or "GETPSC") and it has secured a £884,129 (over US$1,115,000) grant from Innovate UK.

First Graphene has secured an agreement with Halocell Energy to supply graphene for the manufacture of perovskite solar cells.

The initial two-year agreement will result in First Graphene providing its PureGRAPH material to Halocell for use as a high-performing coating for perovskite solar cells. By incorporating PureGRAPH into its products, Halocell Energy hopes to expedite its manufacturing process and enhance light absorbing performance, which will enable the company to scale up commercial production to meet demand.

GraphEnergyTech, developer of a process to integrate graphene electrodes into solar cells to replace silver, has announced a £1 million (over USD$1.2 million) equity raise to accelerate development and scale up of its advanced high-conductivity graphene electrodes.

The fundraising was led by Aramco Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of Aramco, a leading integrated energy and chemicals company.

HydroGraph Clean Power has announced that its flagship graphene product, FGA-1, has been chosen by Volfpack Energy, a hardware company focused on using supercapacitor technology to increase the adoption of renewable energy across Asia. 

Its flagship product, fractal graphene, FGA-1, was chosen by Volfpack to be the base material of the supercapacitor design after Volfpack’s engineers determined that it outperformed materials traditionally used in supercapacitors, such as activated carbon, by 4x.

Researchers at  Monash University Malaysia and Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology have studied how graphene and graphene derivatives could be used as materials to reduce the operating temperature of solar panels. They reviewed the limitations and potential of solar module cooling techniques based on graphene and found that high costs and graphene treatments are the main challenges to overcome.

In a recent in-depth review, the team explained that graphene has attracted the interest of the scientific community as a medium to enhance heat transfers in cooling systems. When used for PV cooling applications, graphene can be used in different ways. For example, as a selective absorber coating or embedding it into a working fluid as a nanofluid. Graphene nanoparticles can also be added to thermal interface materials (TIMs) or phase change materials (PCMs) used for solar module cooling. 

First Graphene has announced an R&D collaboration with Greatcell Energy, trading as Halocell Energy, and the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) to commercialize perovskite solar cell fabrication. The project has received a Cooperative Research Centers Project (CRC-P) grant worth over AUD$2 million (around $USD1,300,000).

The research and development project is intended to commercialize ultra-low-cost, flexible perovskite solar cell fabrication using Halocell’s roll-to-roll production process at the company’s Wagga Wagga plant, First Graphene said in an announcement. Through the project, First Graphene plans to develop cost-effective graphene-based electrode replacements for high-cost conductor materials, such as gold and silver, used in cell manufacturing.

It was recently reported that First Graphene is working with solar company Greatcell Australia on graphene enhancements to perovskite solar cell technology. 

Perovskites are a family of materials with a unique crystal structure that have potential for many applications, the most prominent of which is low cost, efficient solar cells. Greatcell Australia has established a pilot plant in New South Wales and is in the advanced stages of testing its range of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) with manufacturers around the world. Greatcell is aiming to fit its modular production lines into 40-foot shipping containers, due in part to the easier assembly and reduced number of steps to produce PSCs compared to silicon solar cells.