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					</table>Researchers at the <a href="https://www.ncsu.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">North Carolina State University</a> have developed RoboMapper, a robot designed to identify new perovskite materials with enhanced stability and solar cell efficiency.
While perovskite materials are being studied as the potential substitute for the largely used silicon, perovskite tend to degrade when exposed to continuous intense sunlight. With an aim to maintain the stability in perovskite materials, the researchers, through their new work, enabled RoboMapper to perform experiments that could yield a range of new semiconductor materials.
The researchers designed their robot to make alloys using specific elements and conducted tests to identify whether an alloy was suitable for tandem solar cells.
The study titled ‘Sustainable Materials Acceleration Platform Reveals Stable and Efficient Wide Bandgap Metal Halide Perovskite Alloys’ was published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/matter/home" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Matter</a>.
The researchers were looking to determine whether the alloy comes with a crystalline structure similar to that of a perovskite material and if it had a bandgap. The robot also performed experiments to understand the degradation level of the alloy when exposed to intense light.
Based on the encoded instructions, RoboMapper created samples of 150 varying alloy compositions and then conducted optical spectroscopy and X-ray structural assessments on these samples.
Using the data collected during these experiments, the researchers developed a computational model to derive a particular alloy composition that they claimed to be the best combination of desired attributes.
Aram Amassian, corresponding author of the paper and a professor of Materials Science and Engineering at North Carolina State University, said, “The material we identified using RoboMapper turned out to be more efficient at converting light into electricity in solar cell devices. Our conventional techniques validated the results from RoboMapper. The robot also automates the process but places dozens of samples on each chip by miniaturizing the material samples with the help of modern printing. It still performs each step of the data collection process but does so for multiple materials in parallel, saving time and energy.”
Environmental economist Lucía Serrano-Luján, co-author of the paper and a researcher at Rey Juan Carlos University and the Technical University of Cartagena, said, the RoboMapper’s ability to streamline the data collection process by placing dozens of materials on the same chip reduced greenhouse gas emissions tenfold.
In another study, scientists at the National Centre for Photovoltaic Research and Education of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay claimed to have <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/iit-26-efficiency-perovskite-silicon-solar-cell" target="_blank" rel="noopener">achieved</a> a record power conversion efficiency of over 26% for a 4-terminal silicon-perovskite tandem solar cell.
Earlier this year, researchers at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/efficiency-perovskite-silicon-tandem-solar-cells" target="_blank" rel="noopener">developed</a> a perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell with a record energy conversion efficiency of 33.2%.

Researchers Develop Robot to Study Degradation in Perovskite Solar Cells

Here are some noteworthy cleantech announcements of the day from around the world:
Global investment firm KKR has <a href="https://media.kkr.com/news-details/?news_id=f6d9d233-13cf-4a9f-b7cc-28fa5d088a17" target="_blank" rel="noopener">launched</a> Stellar Renewable Power. The new platform will source, develop and operate utility-scale solar projects and storage facilities on behalf of KKR’s asset-based finance (ABF) strategy. Stellar will source opportunities through greenfield development and acquisitions of early-stage assets from other developers. Funding for the platform’s activities will come from separate insurance accounts managed by KKR. KKR has deployed more than $5 billion in 49 ABF investments globally since 2016. KKR’s portfolio includes several proprietary loan origination platforms focused on themes in mortgage finance, hard assets, and contractual cash flows.
Total Eren and Gransolar, an Ecuadorian developer, have <a href="https://www.total-eren.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Press-Release_Total-Eren_Galapagos_EN_09122021_V2-1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> the joint design, development, financing, construction, and operation of a microgrid project in the Galápagos Islands. The partners will work together through a 50/50 joint venture company, E-Quator Energy, which will sign the concession agreement for 25 years with the Ecuadorian authorities. E-Quator Energy will combine a 14.8 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) project with a 40.9 MWh energy storage capacity. Located in the Galápagos Islands, declared by UNESCO as a Natural World Heritage Site, the project will increase the share of renewables in the local electricity consumption from 15% to up to 70%.
AES Corporation has <a href="https://aescorp2020cr.q4web.com/press-releases/news-details/2021/AES-Launches-First-of-its-Kind-Robot-to-Accelerate-Solar-Construction/default.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">introduced</a> a solar installation robot, Atlas. The robot, according to AES, represents a significant advance in solar energy technology, making it faster, more efficient, and safer to construct new solar facilities. AES designed Atlas through a multi-year innovation process and built it in cooperation with Calvary Robotics and other third parties. In addition to this first-of-its-kind solar robot, AES has also invested in solar robots from Ecoppia to automate the cleaning of PV panels in 5B and its MAVERICK technology for plug and play solar farm installation.
<a href="https://cleantechsolar.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cleantech Solar</a> has commissioned a 2 MW rooftop solar PV system at one of Barry Callebaut’s cocoa facilities in Malaysia. The solar power plant’s 4,558 PV modules are expected to generate over 2,400 MWh of clean electricity in the first year of operation, which is equivalent to offsetting over 1,400 tonnes of CO2 emissions, thereby contributing to Barry Callebaut’s target to become carbon positive by 2025. With the project fully financed, designed, installed, operated, and maintained by Cleantech Solar, this arrangement will help Barry Callebaut cut both carbon footprint and electricity cost at zero capital investment under a solar as a service model.

Daily News Wrap-Up: KKR Unveils Renewable Platform to Develop Solar, Storage Projects

The IAN Fund, a seed fund, has led an investment worth ₹124 million (~$1.7 million) in Pune-based Nocca Robotics.
The investment also saw participation from prominent angel investors from Indian Angel Network, according to the company statement.
Harshit Rathore, the co-founder of Nocca Robotics, said, “Our waterless and shareable robotic solar panel cleaning solution enables plant owners to operate at peak efficiency while generating attractive ROIs (returns on investment) by curbing unnecessary spends on manual cleaning and increasing the power generation. Moreover, the impact that the switch to waterless cleaning options can drive on the ecological level is immense. Water is a precious resource without which we cannot survive. Coming up with innovative alternatives to all water-based industrial processes should be the top priority of our age.”
According to the press release, Nocca Robotics will leverage the capital infusion to set up a robust manufacturing facility to create robots with improved quality control. This establishment will cater to 1 GW of solar per year.
Speaking on the investment, Saurabh Srivastava, controlling and designated partner – IAN Fund, said, “Nocca Robotics, born in IIT Kanpur has with its unique IP for waterless robotic cleaning of solar panels and other surfaces, is well poised to leverage the government’s focus on scaling the country’s solar power generation capacity to 100 GW by 2022. Its innovative, tech-based, unique solution will address the auxiliary challenges associated with solar energy operations. IAN Fund is confident of the venture’s potential to achieve exponential growth and scale and is committed to helping it drive unparalleled disruption in India and abroad in its chosen market segment.”
<a href="https://mercomindia.com/mnre-asks-robotics-for-water-solar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Meanwhile</a>, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) recently issued a letter recommending efficient utilization of water for cleaning utility-scale solar projects. The ministry has said that project developers are currently using too much water for cleaning solar modules, and they should try and minimize wastage. The ministry has also recommended the use of robotic cleaning technology, which uses less water for cleaning solar projects.
Last year, Mercom <a href="https://mercomindia.com/ecoppia-robots-clean-bhadla-solar-park-sb-energy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a> on the news of <a href="http://www.ecoppia.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ecoppia</a>, a robotics company that provides photovoltaic solar panel cleaning, signing an agreement with SB Energy to install two thousand robots across its five project sites at the Bhadla Solar Park (Phase III &amp; IV) in Rajasthan.
Image credit: epSos.de [CC BY <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">2.0</a>]

IAN Fund Invests ₹124 Million in a Startup Providing Solar Panel Cleaning Solutions

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