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					</table><p>Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (<a href="https://www.kit.edu/english/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">KIT</a>) are studying the use of semi-transparent photovoltaics with precisely adjustable absorption properties, which would increase the overall efficiency of solar panels.</p>
<p>The project establishes that by combining new materials with targeted component design, the absorption of incident light in precisely defined spectral ranges can be achieved with a semi-transparent solar cell.</p>
<p>Organic solar cells use carbon-based semiconductors, typically characterized by narrow-band absorption ranges, making them the best suitable option for use on glass windows of buildings and in agriculture.</p>
<p>The new material concepts and innovations in organic semiconductors are paving ways to achieve higher application-specific efficiency.</p>
<p>Organic semiconductors enable controlling the absorption properties of organic solar cells, according to Christian Sprau from KIT’s Light Technology Institute.</p>
<p>For example, Sprau explained, “In agrivoltaics, only the wavelengths required for growth have to reach the plants, whereas they can be protected from other spectral components of the light and thus be prevented from drying out. On the other hand, the window front of a high-rise building only has to let through the light that the human eye perceives as brightness. In both cases, high energy harvests can be achieved simultaneously with the unused portions of the sunlight.”</p>
<p>With the development of novel acceptors &#8212; the electron-accepting molecules in the light-absorbing layer of solar cells &#8212; scientists have achieved up to 20% efficiencies in laboratory settings.</p>
<p>The KIT researchers further claimed that double use of space by photovoltaics would play an important role in enabling Germany and Europe to achieve climate neutrality in good time.</p>
<p>In a similar study aimed at improving organic solar cells’ efficiency to maintain long-term stability, scientists at the University of California <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/rigid-electron-polymer-organic-solar-cells" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> that addressing the issue of electron donor polymer chain twisting can enable these cells to produce affordable and efficient energy over the long term.</p>
<p>Earlier, a team of material scientists at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering in California <a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/roof-organic-solar-cells-greenhouse/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">designed</a> a solar roof with semi-transparent solar cells for a miniature greenhouse prototype, producing sufficient energy from sunlight to grow plants or crops.</p>


Translucent Organic Solar Cells Can be Designed to Absorb Narrow Light Band


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					</table><p>In a new three-year collaborative study between the Wales-based <a href="https://www.swansea.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Swansea University</a> and <a href="https://www.tatasteeleurope.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tata Steel U.K.</a>, researchers found that perovskite solar panels can be printed on steel atop establishments using screen printing which allows direct deployment of solar on the surface rather than using any other base.</p>
<p>The rooftop solar would enable buildings to generate, store and release their own secure supply of electricity. This would reduce reliance on fossil fuel energy such as gas, and ease pressure on the National Grid, especially as surplus power generated by a building can be used to charge up electric vehicles.</p>
<p>Active Building is a concept pioneered by the UK-based Innovation and Knowledge Centre <a href="https://www.specific.eu.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SPECIFIC</a> which designed and has built offices and classrooms with Active solar systems. An Active solar system-enabled building supports a wider grid network by smartly integrating renewable energy technologies to generate, store, and release heat and electricity.</p>
<p>An Active Building operates on six basic principles: Building fabric and passive design; Energy efficient systems with performance monitoring; On-site renewable energy generation; Energy storage; Electric vehicle integration; and Smartly managing the integration with micro-grids and national energy network.</p>
<p>Swansea University already has two operational Active Buildings on its campus for the past few years. The results encouraged the collaboration to explore the potential of this technology further and speed up the process of turning the Active solar system into products for industrial-scale manufacturing.</p>
<p>Head of materials science and engineering at Swansea University Dave Worsley said, “We know the concept works as we’ve demonstrated it in our Active Buildings in sunny Swansea. This new collaboration with Tata Steel will enable us to develop its potential more quickly, identifying new types of steel products that actively work to generate electricity.”</p>
<p>“These printable solar cells can be built into the fabric of our homes, shops, and offices, allowing them to generate the power they need. It would also ease the pressure on national electricity networks, for example by enabling us to charge up electric vehicles with surplus energy generated by our homes,” he said.</p>
<p>Tata Steel UK’s R&amp;D Director Sumitesh Das said, “The combination of a ‘green’ solar technology with steel is a significant step in our net zero ambitions. We are buoyant with the possibilities that the perovskite technology brings to the table – especially in integration to the building and construction solutions – across different value streams in Tata Steel.”</p>
<p>Conventional solar cells manufactured from crystalline silicon consume ample energy during the production phase, while they are heavier than perovskite solar cells (PSCs) that can be produced utilizing locally available materials. The manufacturing process of solar panels using PSCs emits less than half the carbon compared to traditional solar cells.</p>
<p>Crucially, another advantage of PSCs over silicon is that they are flexible rather than rigid. This means they can be printed, using techniques such as screen printing, directly onto a material such as coated steel. This opens the door to creating innovative steel products for use in the construction industry that have built-in solar generating technology.</p>
<p>Perovskite solar cells offer a vast scope for researchers worldwide to <a href="https://mercomindia.com/2d-cations-tin-lead-perovskite-solar-cells/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> its implementation in solar panels to capture the solar spectrum to generate and store energy. Experts are also conducting experiments to understand certain criteria that lead to low performance in PSCs.</p>
<p>One such research was <a href="https://mercomindia.com/scientists-use-green-solvent-to-achieve-perovskite-solar-cells/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">initiated</a> by researchers at the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research in Baden-Württemberg (ZSW), Germany who coated a large area of PSCs with a green solvent dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and achieved a power conversion efficiency of 16.7%.</p>


New Research Shows Perovskite Solar Panels can be Printed on Steel Atop Buildings

<p>RT Koytango Private Limited, a part of <a href="https://hriman.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hriman Motors LLP</a>, is setting up free electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in New Delhi, connected to grid tied rooftop solar power projects. It has secured numerous green funds for this objective, the company announced today.</p>
<p>The solar charging stations will offer 100 percent free EV charging to every vehicle in the national capital.</p>
<p>To set up the rooftop solar plant with the charging station, any business, school, college, office, factory with a minimum of 100 kW load and 10,000 square-feet rooftop space will be eligible. This entire set up will be free of cost. Charging for all electric vehicles will also be free for three years.</p>
<p>“Even if we assume 80 percent of EV will charge at night at home, 20 percent will need the top-up charging when out on the road. Average charging time for per vehicle will be approximately 2 hours. Therefore, we need to make sure that charging stations come to the vehicle rather than vehicle going to the charging station”, said Rushen Chahal, one of the founders of RT Koytango in a press release.</p>
<p>The program is also available for commercial buildings. This initiative will help reduce electricity bills by 20 percent and offer EV charging to building staff and employees.</p>
<p>Two other RT Koytango Private founders,  Mrinalini Kapoor and Raninder K Chahal, commented, “It is a known fact that day time usage in Delhi is over 6 GWs and this can be compensated to a great extent using solar. What remains to be understood is that the local Delhi grid will not be able to take the additional load of charging 0.2-0.5 million electric vehicles. Hence power, or rather green power, needs to be generated exactly where the charging is happening.”</p>
<p>Currently, Delhi has over 400 square kms of rooftop space available and solar penetration is under 1 percent. Even if 25 percent of the space is utilized, 3 to 4 GW of power can be generated.</p>
<p><a href="https://mercomindia.com/delhi-budget-ev-fleet/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Delhi</a> will soon have the world’s second largest fleet of electric buses after China. In its budget for the financial year (FY) for 2018-19, the Delhi government had announced that 1,000 electric buses will soon be introduced in the national capital.</p>
<p>Increasingly, more states are preparing for a wider penetration of EVs as an intelligent and sustainable mode of communication. <a href="https://mercomindia.com/states-poised-lead-ev-revolution/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In a recent report</a>, Mercom highlighted India’s potential EV hot spots.</p>
<p><a href="https://mercomindia.com/ministry-of-power-no-license-ev-charge-station/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Recently,</a> the Ministry of Power has issued a clarification stating that no license is required to operate electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in India. This is a positive news for the sector and is expected to boost the participation of more private players in the creation of EV charging station infrastructure across the country.</p>
<p>In a bid to propel the growth of EVs in the country, the government also <a href="https://mercomindia.com/gst-li-ion-batteries-reduced-from-28-to-18-percent/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> a slash in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate on lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries.</p>
<p>Image credit: By Mariordo (Mario Roberto Durán Ortiz) [<a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>], from Wikimedia Commons</p>


RT Koytango to Install 100% Free EV Charging Stations in New Delhi

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