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 explained that policies allowing childcare needs to be met but do not place 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.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, OPIS, a Dow Jones company, offers bite-sized analysis on solar PV module supply and price trends.

Dismissed by many in the solar industry as an overly-complex, outdated technology, concentrated solar power (CSP) is set for a comeback thanks to a scaled-down, modular approach.

Power Panel offers a PV and thermal storage solution that combines simple, safe and easy to manage hot water with advanced thermoplastic technology and architecture.

In its latest monthly column for pv magazine, SolarPower Europe describes which policy tools are expected to help Europe move at a faster pace in solar and renewable energy deployment. The European trade body discusses the upcoming support schemes, the transformation of the PPA market and the rise of green finance.

A new US Department of Energy (DoE) roadmap outlines 35 ways to allow solar developers to expedite the interconnection of utility-scale renewables and storage projects. The roadmap, developed through a DoE stakeholder process known as i2X, proposes actions to implement these solutions.

ReNew Energy Global and Japan’s Jera have teamed up to develop a green ammonia project in the Indian state of Odisha. It will have an annual production capacity of around 100,000 tons by 2030, with Jera serving as the offtaker.

Mercom Capital Group says that total corporate solar funding, global venture capital funding, public market financing, and PV mergers and acquisitions all fell year on year in the first quarter of 2024. The sector is still grappling with high interest rates, which Wood Mackenzie says is disproportionately affecting renewables projects.

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.

Car manufacturer Stellantis has agreed to invest $100 million in a 49.5% stake in Argentina’s 360 Energy Solar. The two parties plan to develop new solar plants, install large-scale storage systems, and produce hydrogen energy.

The Swiss canton of Fribourg says it plans to cover a roadway with 14 MW of solar panels. The authorities are now conducting an in-depth feasibility study, to be followed by a financial plan for the project.

GlobalData say it is “plausible” that Saudi Arabia could close in on its target of 130 GW of renewables by 2030 by strengthening policies, competitive auctions and other financial measures.

Avaada Energy has won NTPC’s 250 MW solar-wind hybrid tender with a winning bid of $0.042/kWh. The project must be connected to India’s Inter State Transmission System (ISTS).

Emirates Water and Electricity Co. (EWEC) is now accepting proposals for a 1.5 GW solar project in Abu Dhabi. The tender is open to the 19 bidders who passed the qualification process, following an expression of interest stage last year. The chosen developer or consortium will sign a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Abu Dhabi-based utility.

A Chinese research group has sought to understand the relative performance of two weather prediction techniques based on ensemble modeling for solar energy forecasts. The scientists applied the two methods in combination with three classical post-processing methods.

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.

ArcActive, a New Zealand-based battery tech specialist, plans to set up a factory in Australia within 18 months. It says the facility will be able to produce 30,000 lead acid-based residential energy storage systems per year.

An international team has demonstrated a perovskite solar cell relying on inorganic calcium nitrogen iodide (Ca3NI3) perovskite and has found this absorber material offers advantages such as tunable bandgap and resistance to heat. The device achieved a fill factor of 81.68%.

Researchers in China have compared the performance of catenary and taut mooring systems for offshore floating PV systems. They found that the taut system offers a higher degree of reliability in shallow water environments with severe tidal variations.

Scientists in the Netherlands conducted meta-analysis on the growth of strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and blackcurrants under different levels of shade generated by elevated agrivoltaic systems. They found that, although classified as shade-benefitting in previous literature, not all berries are equally profiting from the presence of the photovoltaic panels.

The Biden Administration is expected to revoke tariff exemptions on bifacial solar modules following a petition led by Qcells, a company with a multi-billion-dollar investment in U.S. manufacturing.

Sunmaxx PVT, a photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) solar module specialist, has built an automated 50 MW module factory near Dresden, Germany.

ABB Motion has unveiled a new solar drive for water pumping, featuring integrated maximum power point tracking (MPPT) logic to maximize operations, with an input voltage ranging from 225 V to 800 V.

US news outlets have reported resident concerns about leaked toxins from solar facilities in Texas that were damaged by a hailstorm. The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) has rejected the reports, which contained categorically false information.

The U.S. based developer of steel PV module frames said its products are an alternative to conventional aluminum frames. They passed several third party tests as the company readies production and evaluations by module manufacturers.

Nhoa Energy, an Italian developer, has commissioned a battery energy storage project for Taiwan Cement Group in Yilan county, Taiwan, with a capacity exceeding 120 MWh.

Renewables developer Vast Solar has signed a key engineering contract as it pushes toward construction of a 30 MW/288 MWh thermal concentrated solar power (CSP) plant with more than eight hours of energy storage capacity near Port Augusta, South Australia.

Researchers in India have simulated a 4 kW solar power-based hybrid electric vehicle (EV) charging station using a three-stage charging strategy and found that the station is capable of charging 10–12 EVs with 48 V 30 Ah lithium-ion batteries.

Vale and Central South University have launched a joint laboratory for low-carbon and hydrogen metallurgy in Changsha, in China’s Hunan province, while Nippon Steel has secured approval to acquire U.S. Steel.

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.