Approximately 3,500 attendees from 42 countries attended the IDTechEx Show!, which featured 284 exhibiting organizations. The event, held in Santa Clara, California, is unique in bringing together eight key technologies with the organizations that seek to use them.

Scientists have found a resource to increase agricultural production on dry, unirrigated farmland—solar panels.

Tandem solar cells made of silicon and metal halide perovskite compounds can convert a particularly large portion of the solar spectrum into electrical energy. However, part of the light is reflected and is thus lost for purposes of energy conversion. Using nanostructures, the reflection can be reduced significantly ensuring that the solar cell captures more light.

A new fabrication process for transparent ultra-thin silver films has been developed. The material may help build highly efficient solar cells and light-emitting diodes. However, traditional chemical methods have not been able to produce ultra-thin and pure silver films.

Rooftop arrays do one thing - they turn sunlight into electricity. But researchers have built a device that could have a dual purpose - generating electricity and cooling buildings.

Organic solar cells that can be painted or printed on surfaces are increasingly efficient, and now show promise for incorporation into applications like clothing that also require them to be flexible.

Skeleton Technologies provides rapid-response power using ultracapacitors. A world first in the 100% renewable energy Scottish independent microgrid.

Unity Bank has agreed to work together with Daystar Power in moving the power supply of Unity Bank's branches across Nigeria from diesel generation to cleaner and more efficient solar powered solutions.

The European Parliament voted on 13 November 2018 on the post-2020 EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED II).

The Department of Energy, Philippines, and the European Union are pushing ahead with the energization of off-grid communities that would benefit close to 100,000 households, especially in the Bangsamoro region.

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation has developed a technology for efficiently managing photovoltaic and other power-generation systems and also the charging/discharging of electric vehicles parked on company campuses.

The Tennessee Valley Authority announced an agreement with two solar developers to build the largest solar installations in Tennessee and Alabama at 150 and 227 megawatts, respectively. The 377 megawatt output from these facilities is part of a historic agreement to support Facebook's data center in Huntsville, Ala., with 100 percent renewable energy.

Organised by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the International Off-grid Renewable Energy Conference (IOREC) is the leading global event for off-grid renewable energy, technology analyst Dr Iain Meager attended.

With a conviction that the major challenge for the renewable energy market lies in being able to store energy, CMI has opened the largest pilot installation for the storage of green energy in Europe.

A new study is a step forward in understanding why perovskite materials work so well in energy devices and potentially leads the way toward a theorized "hot" technology that would significantly improve the efficiency of today's solar cells.

ABB and SINTEF Ocean are undertaking groundbreaking research to test the viability of fuel cells as an energy source for main ship propulsion.

Commissioning of a 3-megawatt 12-megawatt-hour vanadium-redox-battery energy-storage-system in China is currently underway, with the first battery module of 250-kilowatt 1MWh successfully commissioned.

Nova Innovation announces the integration of its tidal energy array with Tesla battery storage. The Tesla Powerpack was successfully integrated with Nova's existing tidal array, delivering the world's first grid-connected 'baseload' tidal power station.

Queensland turned on the sun for the official launch of Australia's first off-grid, solar and battery powered classroom - The Hivve at Bracken Ridge State High School in Brisbane.

Battery-free eye-tracking glasses could create an even more realistic experience for augmented reality enthusiasts. The new technology improves player controls for gaming and allows for more accurate image displays.