In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, explains that the climatology of Africa leads to very different seasonal generation patterns from what European solar producers experience. Data analysed by Solcast, via the Solcast API, shows this seasonal variance from summer to winter in 2023.

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.

Calls for barriers and duties are resurfacing in Europe as solar module prices sharply fall. German PV analyst Karl-Heinz Remmers recalls the 2009-13 period, when the European Union introduced anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties. This drove the loss of 80,000 jobs in the solar industry, despite or perhaps because of the tariffs on PV modules and raw materials.

Almost every weekend since Easter, European generators have been paid to power down plants but some Northern European nations are experiencing record electricity prices. An energy system set up for fossil fuels is in urgent need of reform, according to Gerard Reid, co-founder and partner of Alexa Capital.

Having discussed battery chemistry in a previous article, Volytica diagnostics here examines the causes of battery degradation and how to extend device lifetimes, ahead of a pv magazine webinar tomorrow.

Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) has submitted a proposal for the “Project Coyote” green hydrogen and ammonia production facility in the Canadian province of British Columbia.

Tesla has submitted a proposal to the Indian government to set up a Powerwall battery storage factory in India.

Energy storage is rapidly expanding as the sector scales to match growing renewable energy supplies, according to a new report by Interact Analysis.

Recent data published by Great Britain’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) show the country’s solar PV cumulative capacity was 15,292.8 MW at the end of July, with newly installed capacity for the first seven months of this year reaching 643 MW. Although Gareth Simkins of Solar Energy UK said these figures were ‘relatively low’, he explained that several utility scale PV plants may have not been included in the statistics so far and there was cause for optimism.

S&P Global Commodity Insights says it expects China to install 170 GW of solar in 2023, with global capacity additions to potentially surpass 400 GW.

The International Energy Agency has warned that lagging policy support, rising costs, and supply chain disruptions threaten the profitability of low-emission hydrogen, while the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has identified hydrogen seeps in South Australia.

Researchers from the Netherlands have assessed the potential integration of heat pumps, electric vehicles, and PV systems into distribution grids. They have discovered that suburban grids could face a higher risk of overload. By using actual data from Dutch distribution grid operators, they believe their methodology could be applied to study energy systems in other nations.

Indian researchers have assessed seven of NTPC’s solar plants in various climate zones. They used a fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making method to evaluate economic, technical, environmental, and connectivity issues.

Swedish solar developer Alight says it will enter the Finnish PV market for the first time early next year with a 100 MW ground-mounted solar park in Eurajoki. Alight COO Warren Campbell tells pv magazine that the array will be a ‘big project by Finnish standards.’

China’s GoodWe has introduced specialized carport solar panels to the Australian market. The panels are designed to address concerns related to water drainage and wiring.

Maxeon is set to buy shingled cell solar patents from Complete Solaria. Along with its solar panel patent portfolio, Maxeon will also acquire Complete Solaria’s dealer channel operations and contracts.

The battery packages include a battery, an inverter and a control system. The US manufacturer claims its storage systems have a lifespan of over 10,000 cycles and a depth of discharge of 80%.

The Chinese manufacturer also inked new strategic cooperation agreements while displaying the new line of solar modules at RE+ 2023 in Las Vegas.

Swiss scientists claim no distribution grid expansion is needed to increase the share of solar PV in energy systems, but they warn that priority dispatch for PV during peak loads may become a serious issue in the years to come. Among a range of recommendations, they proposed reducing peak loads by developing grid-serving behavior with PV system owners having to do their part.

The rise of cost-effective TOPCon cell technology last year led to a ‘surge’ in production demand for solar n-type cell technology, with leading industry analysts TrendForce prophesying PERC cell capacities ‘may’ be phased out in two to three years. The company’s experts, however, warn that oversupply for p-type cells and modules may increase the price gap between n-type and p-type products in the upcoming months.

The European Solar Manufacturing Council (ESMC) is urging the European Union to adopt legislation against forced labor in the PV industry, by explicitly calling for measures to prevent solar products produced with forced labor from entering the European market.

A Brazilian research group has developed a new method that uses the unique properties of supercritical water to recycle end-of-life solar panels. The scientists claim the novel approach is able to achieve a 99.6% organic degradation, without using toxic or hazardous chemicals.

Dutch thin film silicon manufacturer, Hyet Solar, has raised €29 million ($31 million) with Invest-NL contributong €14.5 million of venture debt financing in the round. The company will use the funds to deploy a 40 MW production line at its facility in Arnhem, Netherlands.

The Indian manufacturer released product lines for residential, commercial, and utility-scale applications.

Practical matters, beyond simply improving on solar cell efficiency, have led the agenda at the European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference (EUPVSEC) going on this week in Lisbon. Policy and the geopolitics of solar manufacturing is the big question on everybody’s lips as the event passes its halfway point today. Concerns including grid integration, critical materials consumption, and public acceptance are all being aired frequently – illustrating a closer than ever link between work being done in the labs at solar energy institutes and the everyday lives and energy consumption of people in Europe and around the world.

Ampace says its new battery cell technology has a 15,000-cycle lifetime. It is suitable for stationary and solar power storage applications, with a potential lifespan of up to 20 years.

New research from the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) focuses on a specific model that uses data to reduce the frequency of unscheduled maintenance, while increasing the frequency of preventive maintenance.

Swedish manufacturer Qvantum has announced plans to set up a heat pump factory in Hungary. The new facility is expected to have an annual production capacity of 1 million heat pumps.

Enapter has unveiled its new AEM Flex 120 electrolyzer, which is designed to expedite the deployment of hydrogen projects in the industrial and refueling sectors, with a daily production capacity of approximately 53 kg.

Homes and businesses near the Valley Center Energy Storage Facility in California were evacuated this week and a shelter-in-place order was put into effect in the vicinity. Terra-Gen, the project’s owner, has issued a statement saying that the facility’s design systems contained the incident.