| Work Detail |
The global RD20 initiative has announced it will hold its first overseas annual meeting in New Delhi, India, in December. The initiative expects to discuss a further extension of international collaboration on novel areas including sustainable aviation fuel and social aspects of clean energy technologies with various stakeholders at the event.
RD20, an international initiative comprising top research institutes in G20 countries, has announced it will hold its annual meeting in India in December. This is the first RD20 conference held overseas, emphasizing the truly global nature of the initiative. India is experiencing rapid economic and industrial growth, and RD20 recognizes it as a crucial country for achieving carbon neutrality in the global south countries.
Solar photovoltaic power generation is a primary pillar for carbon neutrality, and the markets and industries are developing in the global scale. For fair trade and competition, it is essential to establish the consistency of measurements of performance anywhere in the world. RD20’s PV Taskforce is working on standardizing the measurement of cutting edge solar cells with higher conversion efficiency than conventional silicon solar cells. At December’s meeting, attendees will discuss a further extension of international collaboration on novel areas including sustainable aviation fuel and social aspects of clean energy technologies with various stakeholders.
Non-concentrator tandem PV cells consisting of InGaP, GaAs, and Ge with an efficiency over 30% have executed round-robin measurements and compared the consistency of the test results. Other round-robin measurements are under consideration for multi-junction solar cells with different technologies such as III-V on Si, perovskite on Si, and even the latest c-Si devices with heterojunction and TOPCon. These activities will extend to emerging countries where significant deployment of PV power is prospected.
Five annual RD20 meetings have been held so far, and an important milestone is the “Leaders Statement” where the leaders shared a common understanding of the importance of collaboration among G20 institutions with diverse approaches and mutual complementarity in the areas of human resource development, capacity building, and social implementation in the region.
Specific measures to achieve these goals include formulating a common language and common standards, hosting an energy summer school to train young people, and holding an international workshop, as well as creating task forces on specific themes to serve as a platform for collaboration.
The RD20 initiative was launched in 2019 to promote international collaborations in clean energy research and development on a global scale. The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technologies is conducting the RD20 as a chair and secretariat. Other core members of the initiative include National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Joint Research Centre, Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, and Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. |
