As the US Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act demonstrated, companies preparing to spend big on batteries are at risk of being blindsided by supply-chain-related legislation. Here are some tips on how US developers can anticipate policy curveballs.

With energy certification already a must-have for any business which makes green energy claims, Ed Everson, chief executive of England-based, global certification company Evident, makes the case for firms to be required to make full disclosure of their energy sources.

Solar and wind are being installed at a rate that is three times faster than all other new electricity sources combined. This offers compelling market-based evidence that PV and wind are now the most competitive and practical methods for deploying new generating capacity.

Airport PV can provide an instant boost to emission-reduction efforts while work continues on sustainable aviation fuels. Developing solar projects at or near airports, however, is not as straightforward as typical ground-mount installations.

The two dominant methods used in the industry to estimate soiling levels on solar projects go some way in mitigating losses, but there is plenty of scope for more accurate observation.

The off-grid solar sector has shown resilience in the face of pandemic-related challenges, with 70 million people gaining access to electricity from early 2020 to the end of 2021. However, the ability to pay for solar energy kits has taken a hit.

The African Development Bank has announced that European and US donors will provide $20 million of concessional loans to support pay-as-you-go solar companies in sub-Saharan Africa.

The International Renewable Energy Agency’s latest annual report on the progress towards UN sustainable development goal seven estimates 670 million people will still lack electricity in 2030, and more than 2 billion will be reliant on unhealthy, polluting cooking methods.

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.

Wood Mackenzie estimates that the US microgrid market has seen a 47% increase in solar and storage capacity in 2022 compared to 2017 levels, driven by rising demand for uninterrupted services, military resilience plans, and corporate environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) goals.

Enel CEO Francesco Starace says the company is talking to an unspecified international investor about the sale of a 50% stake in its new 3 GW heterojunction solar module factory in Catania, which is scheduled to start operations in September.

German startup Solarnative has invested €1 million ($ 1.07 million) in a surface-mount technology production line for its new microinverter plant in Germany. It says it plans to ramp up microinverter production from May.

SVECK, an EVA film supplier, said it wants to set up a new factory in Yancheng, in China’s Jiangsu province.

The US solar market is set to add 29.1 GW of new utility-scale PV and 9.4 GW of storage in 2023, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). If that new capacity goes online as planned, 2023 will have the most new utility-scale PV capacity added in a single year.

Japan’s Sharp says its new 228 W solar modules have an efficiency rating of 20%.

Discovery Battery’s new lithium iron phosphate battery system has a nominal voltage of 51.2 V and a capacity of 100 Ah. Up to six 5.12 kWh battery modules can be stacked in a single enclosure, and up to four enclosures can be connected in parallel for a total capacity of 120 kWh.

Axian has secured MGA 47.1 billion ($10.9 million) to finance the expansion of a 40 MW solar plant and a 5 MWh storage facility into a 60 MW PV project with 10 MWh of storage. The installation will become Madagascar’s largest solar park upon completion.

Malaysian researchers have developed a system that can absorb heat from PV modules and transmit it to a nanofluid, in order to transform it into thermal energy and use it for different applications. The panels have an overall efficiency of 89%.

Brazilian and US researchers have evaluated the water evaporation rate of a floating PV system on a Brazilian reservoir. They said that the 130 kW installation reduced evaporation by 60%, and claimed that a 5 MW system could save enough water for 196 people per year.

Gradient’s first-generation heat pump heating and cooling system is available for preorder, and ships this summer.

Sembcorp Industries has connected a 285 MWh battery storage system to the grid on Jurong Island, Singapore. It is reportedly Southeast Asia’s largest energy storage system, featuring 800 large-scale lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries.

US solar tracker supplier Array Technologies plans to set up a factory in Australia, after winning a contract to supply trackers for a 102 MW solar farm in the Australian state of Victoria.

For a long while, it looked as if hydrogen fuel cells would be the technology of choice for emissions-free road transport. However, truck manufacturers and freight forwarders recently turned their attention to battery-electric vehicles. This will require special charging technology and PV looks set to play an important role.

US residential solar specialist Sunnova is seeking approval from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) for its micro-utility business model, which could potentially disrupt the state’s energy landscape. pv magazine speaks to CEO John Berger about plans to develop self-sustaining microgrids by equipping new homes and communities with solar and storage.

Germany-based Solmax has developed a reflective membrane made of polyethylene resins and coated with a thin white polyethylene layer that reflects ultraviolet (UV) rays. The company claims the membrane can increase the energy yield of a bifacial PV project by between 5% and 20%, depending on the plant configuration.

Polysilicon prices started to rise in the second half of January, according to new data from the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association (CNMIA).

China’s Trina Solar has published a white paper on its latest n-type TOPCon modules, with cost calculations and figures from demonstration projects. The Chinese PV manufacturer claims better performance from its 210 mm cells than with other n-type products based on smaller, 182 mm cells.

A $1 billion to $1.5 billion US market opportunity awaits PV equipment manufacturers through 2030, a McKinsey & Company consultant said at a recent event for potential equipment buyers and sellers in Washington, DC.

India’s 2023-24 budget shows the government’s plans to support the domestic production of lithium battery cells.

The Romanian government has issued long-anticipated secondary regulations for the deployment of storage systems.

Argentina has announced its first renewable energy tender since 2019.

Honda has revealed a new hydrogen strategy, while Air Liquide and TotalEnergies have announced a new hydrogen joint venture.

Scientists in Sweden have compared AC and DC topologies in PV-powered buildings using battery storage. They have found that DC distribution systems can achieve energy savings when they are combined with solar-plus-storage systems.

Chinese scientists have analyzed reports of thermal issues with vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFB) and existing thermal management methods. They say the operating temperature should be maintained in the range of 10 C to 40 C to ensure VRFBs with high efficiency, weak side reactions, high electrolyte stability, and low crossover.