Spanish installer tests vertical rooftop PV array based on conventional panels
Sud Renovables has installed a pilot vertical rooftop PV system on one of its facilities in Barcelona, Spain. The array features two 500 W bifacial modules from US-based SunPower and two microinverters from Enphase Energy.
Dracula Technologies, STMicroelectronics unveil photovoltaic illuminometer
France’s indoor organic PV specialist Dracula Technologies and Swiss-headquartered semiconductor manufacturer STMicroelectronics demonstrated a battery-free illuminometer at the Embedded World trade fair in Germany last week.
France to tender 240 MW of solar capacity along highways
The French authorities plan to launch a series of tenders to deploy PV systems along highways, starting this month.
Adjusting oxygen distribution in Czochralski silicon crystal growth
Researchers in Taiwan have discovered that in polysilicon production the crucible angular speed affects the oxygen concentration near the crucible wall, which in turn affects the wafers’ mechanical and electrical properties. They simulated a Czochralski process for an ingot with a diameter of 200 mm diameter and a length of 700 mm.
US median residential solar price hits $2.80/W, with 8-year payback period
EnergySage says market figures from the second half of 2023 show moderate declines in the cost of solar and energy storage.
Rechargeable magnesium batteries for grid-scale storage
Researchers in Japan have developed a novel cathode material for rechargeable magnesium batteries (RMBs) in the form of rocksalt oxide. This new material reportedly enables efficient charging and discharging even at low temperatures.
‘Polysilicon price will stay above $5.50/kg for at least a year,’ says analyst
Andries Wantenaar, solar analyst at Rethink Technology Research, tells pv magazine that high overcapacity levels in the polysilicon industry are exerting enormous pressure on prices for the entire supply chain. He says China hit 2.4 million tons of polysilicon production capacity at the end of 2023, and notes that the nation will end 2024 with 4 million tons of capacity if all announced production plans are realized.
Solar module cooling tech based on waste neem oil
An international research team has placed a neem oil tank on the back of solar modules for cooling purposes. The proposed solution reportedly improves PV panel performance by up to 17.8%.
Building back bigger
Already 2024 is shaping up to be another record year for solar installations. In Europe, projects are getting bigger as increasing difficulty with obtaining a grid connection makes smaller systems unviable. pv magazine recently caught up with Bernhard Suchland, CEO of Germany/Bulgaria based project services provider Sunotec, for a look a closer look at this and other trends in the large-scale PV segment.
Key takeaways from Advanced Battery Power + V2G conference
Battery research is advancing to address issues in the lithium-ion development process and concerns about safety and aging. Vehicle-to-everything (V2X) tech, meanwhile, is in the starting blocks, but interoperability is the key hurdle to achieving mass market penetration.
