IEA PVPS has published its new “Snapshot of Global PV Markets 2024” report, highlighting key insights and trends. Despite record installations, concerns over profitability and manufacturing dynamics persist, underscoring the need for strategic interventions and policy support to navigate towards a resilient and sustainable PV ecosystem.

The use of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) to create nanoscale crystal structures to attract hydrogen molecules could drastically improve the energy efficiency of storing and transporting the energy carrier.

As solar module prices continue to fall, pvXchange.com founder Martin Schachinger explains how price pressure could increase in the weeks and months to come.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that dust storms and slear skies led to contrasting March Solar Performance in West Asia. The Arabian Peninsula experienced humid winds and dust storms that reduced solar irradiance to 90% of typical levels for the month.

In another article of a series on gender equality, Women in Solar Europe (WiSEu) gives voice Mariyana Yaneva, Vice Chair at the Association for production, storage and trading with electricity (APSTE). She explains that policies allowing childcare needs to be met but not placing the burden of care explicitly on women, increase the chances that women can build the business acumen and professional contacts necessary to qualify for a corporate board.

As the Australian authorities launch rolling tenders for 32 GW of renewables and storage by 2030, it has become clear that some communities, including locals around pv magazine reporter Bella Peacock’s hometown, have not been brought onside. Heated debate on social media and a frenzy stoked by concerns about the impact on the natural environment are throwing up hurdles for renewables development.

Dutch module manufacturer Solarge has raised €3 million venture capital from new and existing investors to expand its recently opened facility where it produces lightweight, low carbon, panels for commercial and industrial (C&I) rooftops.

Burundi is the poorest country on earth, unable to buy fossil fuels on international market due to a lack of hard currency. pv magazine spoke with the UNDP and a PV expert to understand what’s the real potential of PV in the current energy crisis affecting the equatorial country.

A report covering takeaways from the ARE Energy Access Investment Forum 2023 says challenges in financing, policy, technology and skills enhancement must be overcome to support the distribution of Distributed Renewable Energy mini-grids across Africa.

Azerbaijan has revealed plans for its first renewables auction, in order to facilitate the design, financing, construction and operation of a 100 MW solar plant. Applicants can contact the Ministry of Energy from April 30 to participate in the first of two auction stages.

The new products are intended for applications in commercial and industrial PV projects. The devices feature an efficiency rating of up to 98.1% and a European efficiency of up to 97.8%.

The new X1 can operate inside or out, from -20 C F to 55 delivering what Anker says is 100% power output without derating. The batteries are lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) and will reportedly remain fully operational for up to 3,000 charge cycles.

The 14th assembly of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) last week in Abu Dhabi underscored the centrality of geopolitics and security in the current global energy landscape. The gathering also called for greater action to achieve the COP28 target of tripling renewables deployment by 2030.

Denmark will procure at least 6 GW of offshore wind power capacity to potentially produce hydrogen, while Orlen says it will use a European Commission grant to build 16 hydrogen refueling stations in Poland.

France’s new feed-in tariffs (FITs) for the period from May to July 2024 range from €0.1735 ($0.1850)/kWh for installations below 3 kW to €0.1141/kWh for arrays ranging in size from 100 kW to 500 kW.

A group of researchers in Iran has analyzed the coefficient of performance and the energy consumption of a solar-assisted heat pumps and an air-source heat pumps and has found that three factors are crucial to determine their annual performance – irradiance changes, ambient temperature, and wind speed.

The US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has updated its research cell efficiency chart for a range of PV technologies.

Researchers have used two machine learning methods on two different datasets. Accuracy was as high as 97.1%.

German and Swedish researchers calculated the supply of materials to produce perovskite PV at a multi-terawatt-scale, flagging the the supply of gold, indium and cesium, well as a need to improve production processes for materials, such as halides.

The Chinese manufacturer said Germany’s TÜV SUD has confirmed the results.

China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) says the nation installed more than 47 GW of solar in the first three months of this year.

The provisions cover all products and do not target specific companies or industries. They will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union tomorrow. EU member countries will have three years to enforce them.

Stefan Wippich, the CEO and co-founder of Germany’s SecondSol platform, recently spoke with pv magazine about the development of the used PV module market. Wippich noted national differences and argued that it will be important to set rules for the trading of secondhand products.

PV Cycle Belgium says it collected and processed 404 tons of solar panels for recycling during the first quarter of this year. It notes that the number of solar panels it has collected over the last five years has more than quadrupled.

Maxeon has filed two different lawsuits in the United States against Hanwha Qcells and REC over claims that the two manufacturers used an unspecified tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar cell technology.

The new heat pumps use R-454B as a refrigerant and are specifically designed to be matched with Johnson Controls’ residential gas furnaces. Their size ranges from 1.5 tons to 5 tons and their coefficient of performance (COP) spans between 3.24 and 3.40, according to the manufacturer.

Linde says its White Martins unit will build a second electrolyzer to produce green hydrogen in Brazil, while Sunfire has launched a front-end engineering and design study (FEED) for a new 500 MW hydrogen project.

Netherlands-based developer Giga Storage has obtained the irrevocable permit for the construction of a 600 MW/2,400 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) project in Belgium.

The Dutch government has earmarked €100 million ($106.7 million) of subsidies for the deployment of battery storage alongside PV projects. The funds are part of a €416 million subsidy program announced last year to alleviate grid congestion.

AleaSoft and SolarPower Europe inform pv magazine that negative energy prices in Europe are related to the pandemic, low demand, insufficient storage solutions, and inadequate energy planning. They say this situation will likely continue into the summer.