Though their approaches vary, the winners are all pursuing the same overarching goal – to rethink solar energy in sustainable ways, to advance the energy transition through clever products, applications and solutions, and to boldly break new ground. We present to you the winners in the photovoltaics category:
7Second Solar – Auto PV planning tool
7Second Solar from Cape Town offer software as a service. Its Auto PV platform streamlines the planning of solar parks by saving time, reducing costs and minimising labour. The cloud-based tool automates technical project planning and enables real-time adjustments for the comparison of different design variants.
Licence-free planning tools from Aerocompact
Auto PV generates precise ystem layouts with optimised cable routing, inverter and connection box placement and solar module configuration. It also produces detailed technical documentation, CAD drawings, parts lists and yield calculations. According to 7Second Solar, the software can reduce planning time by up to 50 percent.
Auto PV has already supported the planning of large-scale installations totalling more than 1.8 gigawatts. The Smarter E jury praised its high degree of innovation, the attractive and flexible pricing model, as well as its ability to quickly compare and optimise system designs. The software offers project developers and investors a cost-effective solution for meeting growing demand.
Longi Solar – Hi-MO X10 solar module
The Hi-MO X10 solar module from Longi blends inventive engineering with sleek and appealing aesthetics. Its rear contact cells are based on proprietary Tairay wafers and feature a busbar-free design. A further standout is the bipolar hybrid passivation, which cuts current losses at both electrodes and helps prevent UV-induced power degradation.
Taken together, these innovations enable module outputs of up to 670 watts and an impressive efficiency of 24.8 percent. If that wasn’t enough, the Hi-MO X10 achieves higher energy yields under shading conditions by using each cell as a bypass diode, reducing shading losses by a whopping 70 percent.
Video: Longi – a road map to ongoing innovation
This also has the welcome effect of dropping cell temperatures by up to 28 percent, lowering the risk of hot spots and fire. The Smarter E jury commended Longi for a product that sets new benchmarks in performance, reliability and safety.
Weidmüller – PV Inline protection system
Weidmüller developed PV Inline to safeguard rooftop solar systems against lightning strikes and overvoltage events. This compact protection system is available with type 1 or type 2 arresters and features an IP65 rating for outdoor use, making it ideal for roof penetrations where DC cables are required to pass through.
The PV Inline can be mounted on walls, in cable ducts or directly behind modules, and tsystem includes plug-in solar cables and MC4 connectors. The Smarter E jury emphasised the product’s practical design and functionality.
Weidmüller – new solutions and products for solar applications
Three winners were also honoured in the special Solar Projects category, which showcase inventive uses of solar technology in a diverse range of applications and regions:
Phaesun – Be Cool cold storage units in Kenya
Memmingen-based Phaesun specialises in off-grid solar systems. Its award-winning Be Cool solution is being put to use to support fresh produce retailers in Kenya’s Lake Victoria region, where food spoilage caused by lack of refrigeration is a major challenge both socially and economically.
The solar-powered system includes cold rooms and modular cool boxes, which can be rented via app with no upfront investment. The cold rooms, manufactured locally in Kenya, are topped with solar panels that power internal ice-based cooling systems.
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Built using recycled and renewable materials from the region, the units are also pre-cooled using evaporative systems with charcoal and water. By providing reliable and sustainable refrigeration, Phaesun is helping build resilient communities in rural areas.
Longi Hydrogen – Electrolyser for hydrogen
Longi Hydrogen was recognised by The Smarter E for a green hydrogen project in Qinhuangdao, China, where fossil fuels are being replaced by clean energy in steelmaking. The project uses two industrial electrolysers powered by waste heat recovery and renewable electricity.
Each electrolyser generates 3,000 cubic metres of hydrogen per hour. The systems are cost-effective to retrofit, requiring only minimal infrastructure changes. They consume just 4.2 kilowatt hours per standard cubic metre of hydrogen, cutting blast furnace emissions by eight to eleven percent.
SMA – gigawatt milestone achieved in hydrogen applications
This pioneering initiative shows that green hydrogen can help make steel production more sustainable.
KIT – Biflow supply system
The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), in collaboration with Fraunhofer ICT, First Flow Energy Solutions and Stage 76, developed the Biflow supply system for installation in a student residence in Bruchsal. It maximises the use of rooftop solar energy by combining a lithium-ion battery with a vanadium redox flow battery to store both electricity and heat.
The energy management system balances both storage technologies to boost overall efficiency. An innovative thermal coupling module captures waste heat from the redox flow battery’s electrolyte tanks, which run at up to 50 degrees Celsius, and channels it directly into the building’s heating system.
Working towards the sodium-ion battery revolution
This setup removes the need for traditional hot water tanks. Forecasts suggest Biflow can save over €18,000 and cut carbon emissions by up to 20 tonnes annually. It reduces costs for 150 students and offers strong potential for replication at the accomodations of the approximately 240,000 students in halls of residence across Germany.
Hats off to all the winners! (HS/TF)
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