The throes of a lithium shortage are increasingly upending long-term supply strategies and stoking demand for alternative technologies for stationary energy storage projects. Once seen as synonymous with renewable batteries, stationary Li-ion faces strong headwinds due to rapidly accelerating demand from the automotive sector as EVs capture the mainstream.

The solar supply chain problems that began last year with high prices and polysilicon shortages are persisting into 2022. But we are already seeing a stark difference from earlier predictions that prices would decline gradually each quarter this year. PV Infolink’s Alan Tu probes the solar market situation and offers insights.

As we closed out the first quarter of 2022, the energy storage industry continued to show stunning growth. When scrolling through the news, reading studies, and attending events, one can’t help but notice how critical battery energy storage is to a myriad of markets and industries. As innovative technologies emerge at a breakneck pace, they reveal three key trends in both market priorities and the sector’s current and future direction.

Vitaliy Daviy is the CEO of emerging markets focussed cleantech organization IB Centre Inc. and holds an optimistic view of Ukraine’s sector after the war. According to him, the country has the keys to energy independence and security.

On Feb. 10 in Belfort, President Emanuel Macron announced his vision for the French global energy industry to 2050. He reaffirmed France’s desire to massively develop renewable energies as intermittent sources on top of the baseload provided by the nuclear industry whose revitalization has already made headlines since. Macron claimed they are “the only means to meet [our immediate energy needs] in a profitable and competitive way”. By 2050, the capacity of the French solar park should be multiplied by more than 10 to exceed 100GWp, while the onshore wind capacity could double to reach 37GW. Offshore wind power should also experience a real take-off as France aims to develop and build 40GW over the same period.

It should come as no surprise that clean energy spending is a big chunk of Warsaw’s four-year EU grant and loans package, given that the nation’s grid-connected solar capacity rose from 3.99 GW at the end of 2020 to 6.3 GW four months ago, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.

The clean power numbers published annually by the International Renewable Energy Agency provide a snapshot of the global solar market and, this year, a lot of figures were unchanged from the previous dataset, especially in the off-grid segment.

Covid-19 has left Shunfeng International’s accountants unable to publish its official 2021 numbers on time, but its estimated figures announced a net current liability of almost $155 million and a “capital deficiency” of near $140 million.

Polysilicon maker Xinte is forging ahead with a huge expansion strategy just as solar developers at the opposite end of the industry continue to bleed cash.

Lack of locally-denominated finance, and of sufficiently long-term loans, are well established hurdles to the development of photovoltaics in Africa.

Mainspring Energy, a US linear generator specialist, has adapted its technology so its generators can run on hydrogen and ammonia. It said the generators can ramp up and down quickly via solar, with the ability to dynamically switch between different kinds of fuels.

South Korea’s Hanwha says it has appealed a decision to reverse the seizure of products from a Longi Solar distributor in France in February 2021.

Spain recorded a 50% decrease in solar radiation in March – the biggest decline since the beginning of satellite records in 1994. By contrast, irradiation levels in Germany and the Balkans were 45% higher during the same period.

The Regional Court of Apulia in Italy has ruled that the regional authorities must not deny permits to solar projects on agricultural land without considering how they combine electricity generation with crop cultivation and the raising of livestock. pv magazine spoke to Emilio Sani from law firm Sani Zangrando about the ruling’s potential consequences.

Japanese scientists have analyzed storage systems that combine PV and high-energy-density metal batteries. The rechargeable batteries have advantages such as low-charge voltage and high energy density, but stability and safety must be addressed before they reach commercial maturity.

Bio-FlexGen, an EU research project, seeks to develop a combined heat and power plant (CHP) system with hourly, daily and seasonal flexibility via hydrogen production from biomass.

Alion Energy trackers thread the return-on-investment needle with productivity gains from white roofs and bifacial modules, while design aggressively maximizes module count.

Tata Power’s engineering, procurement and construction unit has commissioned a 101.6 MWp floating solar project in the Indian state of Kerala.

China’s DMEGC has released new solar panels with power conversion efficiencies of up to 20.91% and temperature coefficients of -0.33% per degree Celsius. They can be used with maximum system voltages of 1,000 W or 1,500 W.

Municipal, regional and national authorities in France often have different views on permits for the deployment of solar. Marie Buchet, head of solar power at Syndicat des énergies renouvelables, spoke to pv magazine about four case studies. She said one-stop shops to unify all authorization processes could be the solution, as suggested by the European Union.

French researchers have developed PV modules with an area of 11.6 square centimeters for indoor applications. They said the achieved efficiency level marks a world record for a flexible perovskite device larger than 10 square centimeters.

Viritech and Pininfarina have announced plans to put a hydrogen-fueled car into limited production in 2023, while H2 Clipper said it aims to finish a prototype of its hydrogen-powered airship by 2025.

An international research group has assessed the potential of down-conversion materials to overcome the poor blue response of solar cells. They analyzed how such materials could be used to improve the performance of perovskite-based devices and found that certain advances might be achieved.

Norwegian scientists have tested a new floating PV system concept at a water reservoir in Sri Lanka. The system is made of composite beams to support the solar panels and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes to provide buoyancy.

The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is overseeing bids from prospective contractors to supply, install and commission solar cold storage capacity in Senegal, Sudan, and Seychelles. Bidding is also open for two 2 MT systems in Djibouti.

Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) wants to produce silicon metal to create an integrated supply chain for the PV industry in the United Arab Emirates.

Average polysilicon prices ranged from CNY 273 ($40.82)/kg to CNY 280/kg this week, according to an industry association in China.

Germany’s Institute for Solar Energy Research Hamelin has confirmed that Longi’s new n-type heterojunction solar cell has achieved a power conversion efficiency of 26.5%.

Princeton University researchers have developed a new way to accelerate solar cell longevity testing.

Australian renewables startup Okra Solar has raised $3 million to scale up distribution of its solar-based hardware and software solutions. It aims to electrify more than 290,000 off-grid homes in Nigeria over the next three years, while also expanding its operations in countries such as Haiti.

Sun Cable’s massive AUD 30 billion ($20.7 billion) Australia-Asia PowerLink project has passed another major milestone by obtaining approval from Infrastructure Australia.

The European Investment Bank says a new €10 million ($10.5 million) loan will offer electricity access to almost 650,000 people in Benin.

Toshiba is cooperating with Swedish battery specialist Echandia to develop pure hydrogen fuel cells that could be used for continuous operation in marine applications.

In two remote regions of the Mexican state of Chihuahua, PV-powered microgrids bring electricity to a university and an agricultural ranch, neither of which are well served by the regional grid. The microgrids make use of lithium-ion batteries supplied by Growatt, alongside modules from local manufacturer SolarEver. The projects serve as an example of how products like Growatt’s off-grid inverters and energy storage solutions can bring reliable solar power to regions with limited energy access.

India’s Hinduja Group has invested GBP 15 million ($18.4 million) with four other investors in Connected Energy, a developer of energy storage systems based on second-life electric vehicle batteries.