The cover image, by Pascal Kuhn et al., is based on the Special Issue Paper Validation of an all-sky imager–based nowcasting system for industrial PV plants, https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.2968.

This research presents for the first time the energy transition in the power sector towards 100% renewable energy modelled in hourly resolution for an entire year and in 5-year time steps till 2050 for the world structured in 145 regions. The averaged global photovoltaic (PV) electricity supply share is derived to about 69% in the year 2050, which is the highest ever reported value. The high PV supply share is driven by the fast cost decline of PV and supporting battery technologies, but also by the comparably low cost decline of concentrating solar thermal power and wind energy.

In this work, we summarize the influence of different interlayer materials on the electronic and morphological properties of liquid phase crystallized absorbers. We compare interdigitated back-contact solar cells made on these stacks and discuss approaches to further increase the overall cell performance by tackling bulk limitations.

We discuss light-induced degradation effects occurring in multicrystalline and monocrystalline silicon at elevated temperature. A direct comparison reveals several similarities and a potential involvement of hydrogen in the defect

This paper gives a brief technology overview of state-of-the-art and future-generation solar cells. By breaking down the sources of efficiency loss of each type of solar cells, their potential efficiencies are projected.

Through the formation of a broad coalition of industrial, scientific, and societal stakeholders, the Product Environmental Footprint Guide of the European Commission was applied to photovoltaic electricity generation by developing, testing, and evaluating Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules. This political mandate, as well as the provision of an inclusive, transparent, and interactive testing environment during the environmental footprint pilot phase from 2013 to 2016 enabled the establishment of a common basis for measuring and communicating the environmental performance of photovoltaic electricity generation, which can be recognized by all market actors as well as regulators across Europe.

“eye-catching“-Figure: Effect of encapsulation on a typical c-Si solar cell: Deviation from ideal cosine response of an industrial large area c-Si solar cell and a mini-module made from the same type of solar cell. The angular-dependent responsivity significantly improves due to the encapsulation, leading even to a relative overperformance in the infrared region.

Tunnel oxide passivating contacts (TOPCon) consisting of an ultrathin tunnel oxide capped by a doped Si film exhibit excellent passivation and contact properties. In this work, we study the performance of the TOPCon layer as a full-area emitter at the rear side of p-type Si solar cells, with a special focus on the influence of the lateral conductivity within the p⁺ front surface field (FSF). Efficiencies up to 24.3% have been achieved with a FSF and up to 23.9% without, demonstrating a high device performance even without a lateral conductivity in the FSF.

In this work, we built a 3-curve model that simulates the shape of the spectrally resolved PhotoLuminescence spectra for different concentrations of boron doping in crystalline silicon at 79 K. This work also shows that the PL spectra from a thermally boron-diffused wafer can be reconstructed based on superposition of PL spectra arising from the layers of different doping beneath the surface, making spectrally resolved PL technique an easy and damage free method to probe the boron dopant profile in the thermally diffused wafers.

The cost priority number (CPN) analysis shows that for 99% of all mitigation measure combinations, the scenarios will result in economic benefit by reducing the CPN to values lower than the reference (104.75 €/kWp/year). Preventive mitigation measures have the highest impact on CPN compared to corrective mitigation measures, for instance, qualification of Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC), and design review will reduce the CPN to 40 €/kWp/year. Savings up to 90 €/kWp/year appear possible for the best combinations of selected mitigation measures.

The 4 all-sky imager–based WobaS nowcasting system is presented and validated with special focus on spatial and temporal aggregation effects on 30 days. General validation principles for nowcasting systems are derived. The WobaS system is at least state of the art.

Quality control and efficient operation of PV-systems can be achieved for example by occasional IR-imaging or tracking with module optimizers. Module failures affect the electrical properties, which influence the module power and yield as well as the temperature distribution during operation. Mapping of the irregular temperature distribution and the module power or yield allow the identification of module failures and the impact on the power output.

We calculate the social profitability of photovoltaics (PV) in Germany by including not only private costs and benefits but also integration costs to the electricity system as PV penetration increases and avoided environmental externalities, using the internal rate of return and the profitability index as indicators. Our results show that when these factors are considered, the social profitability of PV in Germany is higher than 10% at the lower bound of the social cost of carbon (150€/tCO₂) up to a penetration level of at least 15% and positive up to a penetration level of at least 25%.

ARENA has provided grant funding to 18 off-grid and fringe-of-grid renewable energy projects under its RAR program since 2013. These projects show that land acquisition, technical integration, stakeholder engagement, and access to finance are among the main reasons for project delivery delays, and a remoteness premium is shown by comparing these projects with utility-scale on-grid projects. ARENA's Knowledge Sharing model allows the funding agency to be recompensed by data and information from funded projects, and increases its impact.

A novel micro-scale photovoltaic concept is proposed and developed, which seamlessly integrates multijunction micro-cells with a multi-functional silicon platform that simultaneously provides optical concentration, hybrid PV/CPV architecture, and mechanical alignment features. Over 100% improvement on the concentration-acceptance-angle product (CAP) is demonstrated using the wafer-embedded micro-concentrating elements. Leveraging low-cost micro-fabrication and high-level integration techniques, such an approach presents a promising route to combine the high performance of multijunction solar cells and the low costs of flat-plate Si PV systems.

The machine learning photovoltaic system performance analyser prevents investment monetary losses by using only 3 months of historical data for training the prediction models. Five machine learning techniques were studied, and results show that the regression tree provides acceptable results in all locations and all seasons of the year, while the support vector machine for regression is best for spring and summer training dataset months, and the Gaussian process is best for the autumn and winter training dataset months.