Skip to content

Top News

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.
Markets & Policy

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 cons...
Energy Storage

The Hydrogen Stream: Researchers developing cheap hydrogen storage

Oxford Institute for Energy Studies researchers have developed a cost-effective material to absorb hydrogen at non-cryogenic temperatures, which they consider optimal for fuel cell storage systems.
Announcements

New edition - Solar springs eternal

pvi 09 global magazine

pv magazine Webinar

Unlocking the power of advanced analytics: maximizing value in multi-GW utility-scale solar portfolios

Registration Link

pv magazine Webinar

A manufacturer guide to complying with US module import laws

Registration Link

pv magazine Webinar

Powerful data in PV project development

Registration Link

pv magazine Webinar

Field protection and reliability of solar radiation measurement instruments

Registration Link

pv magazine Webinar

New mounting systems for solar facades

Registration Link

Newsletter Global pv magazine

RTUS23: register now for the virtual event

RTUS23

Sponsored
Installations

‘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.
Markets & Policy

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.
Sponsored
Sponsored
Technology

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.
Markets & Policy

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 proje...
Energy Storage

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...

Press Releases

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.

Plenitude inaugurates its first 50 MW photovoltaic plant in Kazakhstan

Plenitude (Eni) inaugurates today, with the attendance of the Governor of the Turkistan Region, Darkhan Satybaldy, the Ambassador of Italy to Kazakhstan, Marco Alberti and local authorities its first photovoltaic plant in the Republic of Kazakhstan, close to Shaulder village in the Turkistan Region.

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

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.

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.

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.

Installations

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.

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.

France allocates 1.5 GW in ground mounted PV tender

The French government has awarded 129 projects an average price of €0.0824 ($0.0868)/kWh in its latest ground-mounted tender. This represents the largest capacity since the beginning of the tender series held by the French authorities.

Spanish railway operator builds 20 MW solar plant for train traction

Renfe says it will invest around €27 million ($28.4 million) to build a 20 MW pilot PV installation. It will be part of a broader project involving several PV installations along its rail network.

Self-interest key to maximizing rooftop solar installations

Researchers in Switzerland have found that the most effective way for governments to nudge homeowners into installing rooftop solar PV sytems hinges on individuals being told how much money they’ve lost by not getting it sooner.

Ireland allocates 497 MW of PV in third renewables auction

Ireland’s Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and network operator EirGrid has revealed the 20 solar projects totaling 497 MW that were provisionally selected in the latest auction round of the country’s onshore Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS). The procurement exercise concluded with an average strike price of €0.10047($0.10596)/kWh.

Technology

Featured

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.

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.

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.

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.

Manufacturing

Featured

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.

India’s Gautam Solar to expand PV module capacity to 2 GW

Gautam Solar says it will invest $18.1 million to double its annual PV module production capacity to 2 GW.

SolarSpace launches first phase of 5 GW solar factory in Laos

SolarSpace, a China-based PV cell and module manufacturer, announced the first phase of a 5GW high-efficiency solar cell plant in Laos, giving momentum to its overseas production capacity.

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.

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.

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.

Australian firefighters contain blaze at Tesla battery facility in Queensland

A fire broke out this week in a Tesla Megapack 2.0 battery unit at the Bouldercombe battery facility in Queensland, Australia.

Solar-linkable pico-hydro turbine system for commercial buildings

Scientists in Australia have proposed to use a a propeller pico-hydropower turbine to recover the energy used for pumping water in a solar-powered commercial building. They have found that the mini hydro system is a relatively low-cost solution, able to recover approximately 10% of the energy used for pumping seawater.

Scatec switches on 30 MW of PV linked to 20MW/19MWh of storage in Cameroon

Scatec has turned on two solar-plus-storage facilities in northern Cameroon, with 30 MW of solar and 20 MW/19 MWh of energy storage.

The Hydrogen Stream: Germany expands global hydrogen alliances

Germany advanced its hydrogen ambitions this week with a fresh call for the International Green Hydrogen Promotion Program in Latin America, a collaborative deal with the UK government, and a tie-up between DHL and Sasol for sustainable aviation fuels based on green hydrogen (eSAF).

This website uses cookies to anonymously count visitor numbers. View our privacy policy.

The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.

Close