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MIT scientists develop solar desalinator with high water output

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers have developed a solar desalinator with high water output, via a multi-stage system of evaporators and condensers. It offers cost-effective solar desalination, making solar-produced drinking water cheaper than tap water for the first time.
Installations

Germany wraps up ‘innovative’ tender with average price of €0.0833/kWh

Germany has concluded a new renewables tender, securing 408 MW of capacity at an average price of €0.0833 ($0.09)/kWh.
Manufacturing

Novel perovskite/CIGS tandem PV cell design promises 38.39% efficiency

A research team in Bangladesh has simulated a perovskite-CIGS PV device that can reportedly achieve a remarkable tandem cell voltage of 2.48 V. The proposed method is also applicable for tandem cells composed of other materials.
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Markets & Policy

Former Polish coal mine transforms into 200 MW solar PV plant

‘It is a project that stands as an example of energy transition,’ Duarte Bello, CEO of EDP Renewables’ Europe and Latin America operations told pv magazine. The new 200 MW solar PV plant is now generating energy on a former brown open-pit li...
Energy Storage

Techno-economic dispatch model to combine pumped hydro with solar, wind power

A research team in Spain has developed an hourly mathematical model that reportedly allows for the optimal management of grid-connected renewable generation facilities and pumped hydro-energy storage with reversible pump turbine. The scientists tested th...
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Markets & Policy

Chile to become second-largest battery market in Americas after US

Chile is now on track to become the second-largest battery market in the Americas, following the United States. As of this year, the Latin American nation has switched on 12 storage projects, with a total capacity of 1.3 GW. It currently has 85 energy st...
Markets & Policy

Atlas Renewable Energy switches on 600 MW of solar in Brazil

Atlas Renewable Energy has commissioned 600 MW of solar capacity in Brazil, following the completion of the Lar do Sol and Casablanca plants in the state of Minas Gerais. The facilities will provide energy to Unipar and Anglo American via power purchase ...
Installations

Around 40% of the workforce in global PV industry is female

According to recently published employment report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the global solar industry employed around 5 million people at the end of last year. The report also reveals that women’s employment in the industry ...

Press Releases

CHG’s new 20GW cells plant signed at the 2023 WMC

On the morning of September 20th, the 2023 World Manufacturing Convention opened in Binhu International Exhibition Center in Hefei. With a total investment of 10 billion yuan, the 20GW high-efficiency cells manufacturing project of Anqing CHG Green Building was signed at the main venue.

Menlo Electric Empowers Chernihiv School No. 3 in Ukraine with Solar Station Amid Missile Attacks

Menlo Electric in cooperation with Energy Act For Ukraine Foundation and partners has installed the second hybrid solar installation in Ukraine in frames of its CSR program ‘Energy to Power Your Future’

Yingli will supply 263MW of high efficiency modules for the Guillena Photovoltaic Cluster that belongs to TotalEnergies in Spain

Recently Yingli Solar has announced the supply of 263MW of solar modules for the 5 photovoltaic plants that TotalEnergies is building in the town of Guillena: Arbotante (52 MW), La Carrascosa (55MW), La Noria . (53MW), Pilastra (52MW) and Postigo (51MW).

Trina Solar’s sustainable technology drives green future

Module has to take the whole responsibility of stability and reliability, and existing technologies are the most sustainable and practical technologies to fight climate change, Dr. Pierre Verlinden, Chief Scientist of Trina Solar, said at the European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition.

Opinion & Analysis

Featured

October 14 eclipse to cost US states up to 17% of daily solar generation

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that North and South America are set to experience an annular eclipse on October 14, which means that some regions could lose a significant portion of their daily solar energy production. The path of the eclipse tracks across the southwestern United States, from Oregon to Texas, before continuing through Mexico, Central America and ending in Brazil, though impacts will be seen across all of the contiguous US and the top of South America.

While solar is thriving, European manufacturers are concerned they won’t be able to survive without protective measures

The current module oversupply market dynamic has coincided with efforts to bolster manufacturing outside of China by national governments and manufacturers alike. pv magazine consultant and contributor Götz Fisbheck was a part of discussions regarding made-in-Europe production, to find that protectionist measures are being called for by some.

Solar wafer prices fall for first time in 3 months

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, OPIS, a Dow Jones company, provides a quick look at the main price trends in the global PV industry.

Higher wind production pushes down prices in European electricity markets

In the third week of September, European electricity markets prices fell compared to the previous week. The decline was due to lower demand and a significant increase in wind energy production in several markets, which offset increasing gas and CO2 prices. On September 25, TTF gas futures reached their highest level since early April and on September 18, Brent reached its highest settlement price since November 2022.

Conventional grids place power plants in the crosshairs

Warnings about the need to decentralize Ukraine’s electricity grid, made 10 years before the Russian invasion, fell on deaf ears at the time. In the wake of war, nations across Eastern and Central Europe are alive to the risks embodied in traditional energy networks.

Solar module price falling, with no end in sight

Solar module prices have never fallen so sharply in such a short period of time. One reason for this is the “PV module glut” in warehouses in Europe, according to pvXchange’s Martin Schachinger.

Markets & Policy

Featured

Australian solar market hit by declining global panel prices

Tongwei Solar's entry into the Australian solar market has triggered disruption in recent months, amplified by the ongoing global decline in panel prices, which solar analyst Warwick Johnston says has yet to fully affect the country.

Sliding solar module prices squeezing European manufacturers

Plummeting module prices are weighing on European manufacturers, but the impact on wholesalers is differently, as warehouse conditions are showing signs of improvement.

South Korean regional governments bypass minimum distance rules to allow solar PV

Jaebin Choe, renewables permitting team researcher at environmental advocacy organization Solutions for our Climate (SFOC), told pv magazine that some South Korean regional governments have been forced to pass exceptional clauses to allow the construction of solar PV arrays in their municipalities despite federal regulation. The association claims this represents the ‘biggest bottleneck’ in the country’s solar pursual.

The Hydrogen Stream: Researchers developing cheap hydrogen storage

As the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies underlines the delays in hydrogen storage investments, a group of researchers have developed a cost-effective material to absorb hydrogen at non-cryogenic temperatures, which they consider optimal for fuel cell storage systems.

‘We want the heat pump industry to stay in Europe,’ says EU Energy Commissioner

EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson, speaking at the European Heat Pump Association’s (EHPA) Heat Pump Forum this week, has reaffirmed the European Union’s commitment to decarbonizing heat.

Chinese PV Industry Brief: BAJsolar commissions 10 GW solar cell factory

BAJsolar has finished building a 10 GW solar cell factory in eastern China. It has invested CNY 2.6 billion ($355.75 million) in the new facility.

Installations

Featured

Brazilian water tank maker unveils new polyethylene PV mounting structures

Brazil's Fortlev Solar has created a new polyethylene mounting structure to significantly cut installation times. It weighs 15 kg and uses the weight of natural and manmade materials for anchoring, rather than relying solely on fixed supports.

Construction begins on massive, merchant wind-solar hybrid plant in Bulgaria

Tenevo Solar plant is expected have a solar capacity of 238 MW, a wind capacity of 237 MW and a storage capacity of 250 MW-500 MWh, with construction starting this month. Konstantin Nenov, director of Renalfa AD – one of the businesses behind the project – tells pv magazine the plant is emblematic of the Balkan country shifting away from coal and towards the sun.

TotalEnergies acquires French agrivoltaics specialist Ombrea

TotalEnergies has become the sole shareholder of French agrivoltaics specialist Ombrea, in a transaction that builds upon the partnership they started in 2019.

Irish Solar Energy Association raises concerns over failure rates in renewables auctions

Conall Bolger, CEO of the Irish Solar Energy Association (ISEA), has told pv magazine that while it was ‘good’ news the Irish government favored solar PV projects in the latest renewable auction, less than half of solar PV projects selected in the first tender round of the same program would not ‘reach the finish line.’

German startup 42watt raises funds to expand advisory for solar, heat pumps, energy efficiency

Munich-based startup 42watt will expand its fee-based services to simplify building energy efficiency renovations for homeowners and enter new market segments after raising an undisclosed amount of seed funding.

Iberdrola completes Spain’s first hybrid wind-solar plant

Iberdrola has finished building Spain’s first hybrid wind-solar project, featuring a 74 MW solar plant and a 69 MW wind farm.

Technology

Featured

Wind speed increases could cause PV yield losses

A Spanish research group says air flux variations over different parts of solar plants could also lead to mismatch losses. Past. studies have only looked at the benefits of high wind speed on PV arrays, which enhances module cooling.

EV sharing to provide stationary storage services via V2G tech

We Drive Solar and MyWheels have announced plans to transform the Dutch city of Utrecht into the world’s first municipality with a “neighborhood battery on wheels.” The system will feature 25 Ioniq 5 vehicles equipped with vehicle-to-grid (V2G) tech from Hyundai Motor.

III–V triple-junction solar cell with mask, plate front metallization achieves 31.6 % efficiency

Fraunhofer ISE researchers utilized a new front metallization technique to produce a III-V gallium arsenide solar cell. For mask and plate front metallization, they used a new two-step printing scheme that reportedly allows for the realization of extremely narrow mask openings.

Dragonfly making cells with lithium hydroxide from recycled batteries

Dragonfly Energy is using lithium hydroxide recovered from recycled batteries to manufacture battery cells, with Aqua Metals leading the way in recycling solutions for materials in the supply chains for energy storage and electric vehicles.

EnergyAustralia pushes ahead with 2 GWh battery at coal plants

EnergyAustralia’s plans to install a 500 MW/2,000 MWh big battery storage system in the Australian state of New South Wales are gaining momentum, as the Hong Kong-owned generator has secured approval to conduct site investigation works.

Solarstone opens 60 MW BIPV module factory in Estonia

Solarstone, an Estonian producer of building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) solar roofs, has opened a 60 MW manufacturing facility in Viljandi, Estonia, to produce a broader range of design and performance specifications.

Manufacturing

Featured

RCT Power opens new hybrid inverter production lines in Germany

RCT Power says it has expanded its production capacity to 600 MW with two new hybrid inverter lines in Germany.

Mondragon Assembly wins patent litigation case in China

Mondragon Assembly says it has won a patent dispute in China, marking its second successful case in the country in relation to its patented continuous string process.

Solar geometry-based model to assess performance of bifacial PV systems

Scientists in India utilized solar geometry to create a novel energy estimation model that reportedly accurately predicts both the front and back irradiance of bifacial PV modules. The model achieved correlation coefficients of 1.04 and 1.40 for the front and rear side, respectively.

Low-temperature processes to reduce silver use in tandem perovskite-silicon solar cells

Researchers from Germany’s Fraunhofer ISE developed new techniques to reduce silver consumption in tandem perovskite silicon solar cells and heterojunction silicon PV devices. The new processes relate to cell metallization and module interconnection.

SolarWatt launches TOPCon module production

SolarWatt has started production of TOPCon modules, with plans to manufacture both glass-glass and glass-backsheet versions. It says it aims to make its first shipments in January 2024.

New perovskite solar cell design with silicon dioxide anti-reflector layer

Researchers in Iran have designed a new light trapping (LT) structure for perovskite solar cells that reportedly achieves optimal light absorption without impacting the electrical properties of the cells. The key element of the device is an anti-reflector layer based on silicon dioxide (SiO2) that improves light harvesting and charge extraction performance.

Energy Storage

Heat pump sector under threat by weak EU laws and ‘unfavorable’ prices

Brussels-based heat pump advocacy organization, the European Heat Pump Association (EHPA), issued a stark warning today claiming that the industry is being largely impacted by inconsistent European laws and ‘unfavorable’ electricity to gas price ratios.

Hydrostor strikes deal for compressed air energy storage facility in Australia

Hydrostor has signed a deal with miner Perilya to build a 200 MW/1,600 MWh advanced compressed air energy storage facility in a disused mine cavity in New South Wales, Australia.

Lithium-ion batteries differ in terms of risk

As the energy storage trend unfolds, stories litter the media landscape about lithium-ion batteries catching fire, and even exploding. This is a valid concern, as the time for consumers to understand a basic truth about lithium-ion batteries is long past due.

US set to install 66 GW of storage in 2023-27 period, says WoodMac

Wood Mackenzie says that US developers installed 1.7 GW/5.6 GWh of new storage capacity in the second quarter of 2023.

Powering bio-based earth homes with photovoltaics

Moroccan researchers have investigated the potential energy savings of PV systems integrated with biomaterial-based walls in rural areas. They say that solar-powered earth homes could achieve a levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of $0.218/kWh.

Solar industry should focus on virtual power plants, says US official

Solar industry veteran Jigar Shah, the director of the US Department of Energy’s (DoE) Loan Programs Office, says that virtual power plants are the path to success, as solar net metering now faces an uncertain future.

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