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.

The lower the uncertainty in solar resource data, the lower the investment costs. IEA PVPS Task 16 has organized and published two benchmarks to make uncertainty of models and data comparable – a first important step. The benchmarks included modeled solar resource data and methods to fill gaps in measurements.

The South African authorities awarded project agreements to two wind-solar-storage hybrid projects that were selected in a 2 GW tech-neutral tender held under the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP) in 2021.

Hydrogen is nothing new, but it could become a decarbonized energy vector to transform renewable electrons into renewable fuels, displacing fossil fuels in multiple applications. Laurence Boisramé, global director of hydrogen at Bureau Veritas, recently spoke with pv magazine about improving hydrogen market transparency, but she noted that “global consensus will take time – at least a few years.”

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.

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.

Q Energy says it will deploy a 74.3 MW floating PV array in northwestern France. The project should take around 18 months to complete, with commissioning scheduled for 2025.

India’s SJVN has launched a tender process for the construction of 1.5 GW wind-solar hybrid power projects in India on a build-own-operate basis. Prospective developers have until Nov. 2 to submit bids.

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.

Electra Power, an Israeli energy supplier, is now in negotiations to sell its PV operations for up to $7.88 million. Last year, it reported an operational capacity of 4.7 MW and a project backlog of 25 MW.

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

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

At a recent automobile industry event, Germany-based Webasto announced its retractable vehicle integrated PV system for car-roofs was integrated into a new electric sports utility vehicle (SUV) by an undisclosed US equipment manufacturer.

A research group led by the Technical University of Denmark has analyzed how booster heat pumps may effectively improve the performance of ultra-low temperature district heating networks in colder climates and has found that the refrigerant change plays a crucial role. They also said that powering these heat pumps with renewables may also better integrate clean sources in energy systems.

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.

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.

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.

Switzerland’s Staubli Electrical Connectors says it has invested in California-based PV robot developer OnSight Technology to fund the advancement of its algorithms and artificial intelligence technology.

Scientists in China have outlined a new system architecture for vacuum integrated photovoltaic (VPV) curtain walls. They claim the new design can reduce building energy consumption and yield more surplus power generation electricity.

Swisspower-Stadtwerk SIG says its pilot solar bicycle path in Satigny will pave the way for similar projects in Switzerland.

Silfab Solar says that it has invested $150 million in a new manufacturing operation in South Carolina. It has also released new residential and commercial solar panels.

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.

Hitachi Energy has delivered a modular solution to electrify a 20 MW electrolyzer to produce hydrogen to heat steel before rolling, while Enapter has unveiled its AEM electrolyzers for industrial and refuelling pilot projects.

Gotion High-Tech has started making battery packs at its 20 GWh automated plant in Göttingen, Germany. It expects deliveries to clients in Europe to commence in October.

Solar Energy Corp. of India Ltd (SECI) has launched a tender to select developers for 1,260 MW of firm, dispatchable power from renewable energy projects with storage systems. Bidding closes on Nov. 10.

Multiple factors affect the lifespan of residential battery energy storage systems. We look at the lifespans of batteries in the third part of this series.