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.

In the third week of May, negative or zero hourly prices were registered in most of the European electricity markets, especially during the weekend. In the Nord Pool market, the value of -€5.67/MWh registered during an hour on Sunday May 21, is the lowest one in history. For the week as a whole, prices decreased in every market, due to the decrease in demand and gas prices, and also to a higher solar and wind energy production than that of the previous week in several markets.

Solar electricity will have to compete with biofuels in the urban mobility landscape. Biofuels, however, have a very low energy productivity per hectare, as well as high requirements for fertilizers, pesticides, and water.

Frank Haugwitz arrived in China in June 2002 as technical adviser to the solar-focused Sino-German Renewable Energies in Rural Areas Program. He has directly observed the nation’s rise to solar superpower status.

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.

The first post-pandemic update on the state of the world’s off-grid solar industry has painted a picture of domination by European companies, but highlighted the potential for new startups in West Africa and an increasing use of PV as a backup to unreliable grid supplies.

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.

With comparisons with a Covid-hit 2020 inevitably offering a string of positive numbers, there was also little to concern the board of the inverter and battery manufacturer from the returns generated in the last quarter.

The latest edition of a clean power jobs survey produced by IRENA and the International Labour Organization has stressed the important role which will need to be played by the public sector if the energy transition’s employment benefits are to be shared equally.

The US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has published a new report focusing on core benchmarks for PV prices, deployment, and imports.

China-based Sofar has unveiled PowerMaster, a new modular utility-scale battery based on lithium iron phosphate (LFP) chemistry. 

The perovskite solar race is heating up, with a cue of manufacturers forming to test products at the US Department of Energy’s (DoE) PV commercialization facilities, and academics on both sides of The Pond announcing new advances in recent months.

A study conducted in the semi-arid weather conditions of Ben Guerir, Morocco, evaluated the performance of antistatic and hydrophobic coatings for photovoltaic solar panels. After nine months of operation, the PV panels with coatings developed by Portuguese company ChemiTek produced an average of 3% more energy than the uncoated ones.

The Environmental Assessment Service (SEA) of the Chilean region of Antofagasta has approved the environmental impact assessment for the 862.5 MW Parque Terra Energía Renovable hybrid solar wind project.

German investors have agreed to back a hydrogen project in Namibia, while Plug Power and Thyssenkrupp Nucera have announced separate hydrogen-related deals in Sweden.

The global floating solar (FPV) market is expected to keep up its steady growth, as the Asia-Pacific region continues to lead demand.

The National Energy Commission of the Dominican Republic (CNE) has announced the granting of the definitive concession to three photovoltaic projects totaling 148 MW.

Local communities in Germany have the opportunity to operate ground-mounted PV systems via simplified contracts for existing systems or contracts for new, repowered systems.

A new study by the University of Hohenheim shows that shading from PV systems can improve agricultural yields, especially in dry periods, but additional research is needed.

China’s Eging has unveiled a new line of bifacial TOPCon solar panels based on n-type wafers and 182 mm cells. The modules have a temperature coefficient of -0.30% and efficiencies ranging from 21.67% to 22.45%.

The new series comes in seven versions, with power outputs between 560 W and 590 W. The power conversion efficiency ranges between 21.7% and 22.8%

Researchers have achieved an efficiency boost of 15.44% to 17.04% in all-inorganic perovskite solar cells by incorporating a conductive fullerene-derivative interlayer between the perovskite and electron transport layers. They claim that this enhancement also improves thermal stability.

Yingli is offering six versions of its new 144-cell Panda 3.0 PRO solar modules, with power outputs ranging from 555 W to 580 W and efficiencies ranging from 21.48% to 22.45%. The panels are designed for near-shore and offshore floating solar plants.

Oxford PV, a leading perovskite solar pv company with operations in England and Germany, achieved power conversion efficiency of 28.6% for a two-terminal perovskite-silicon tandem cell measuring 258.15 cm² cell: A world record for a device based on a ‘full size’ silicon wafer. The record was certified by Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (Fraunhofer ISE).

A new solar company has entered the PV market, pv magazine learned this week at SNEC in Shanghai. The company sells everything from PV modules and inverters to racking and wallboxes.

The compact bifacial glass-glass modules are to be delivered from the third quarter. They are available in two different variants with an efficiency of 22.02 and 21.76%.

Solarge, a Dutch panel manufacturer, says that its new factory will make two types of lightweight mono-PERC panels with low carbon footprints. It says it will design them to be reused at the end of their 25-year lifespans.

China exported 154 GW of PV modules, 24 GW of solar cells, and 41 GW of wafers in 2022. In 2026, annual cell and wafer exports could hit 230 GW and module shipments could reach 149 GW, according to Wood Mackenzie.

Chinese researchers have used metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) to produce a 12 cm2, five-junction solar cell with a minimal number of mismatch dislocations. The cell has an open-circuit voltage of 4.727 V, a short-circuit current density of 860 mA/m2, and a fill factor of 86.38%.

The Allgäu company has expanded production at its headquarters in Wildpoldsried and can now produce around 120,000 systems a year. Sonnen’s move to accelerate expansion reflects the sharp rise in demand for PV home storage systems in Germany.

The IQ Battery 5P works in conjunction with the Enphase Energy System and can be configured for self-consumption, savings, or full backup functionality.

NEOM Green Hydrogen Company has secured an exclusive 30-year off-take agreement with Air Products for what they claim will be the world’s largest green hydrogen plant, while Germany’s EEX has launched the world’s first market-based hydrogen index.

Chinese module manufacturer Hanersun has introduced six versions of its new stackable, high-voltage residential batteries, ranging in nominal capacities from 7.5 kWh to 20 kWh. The batteries, which feature lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) technology, come with a five-year warranty.

EVLO Energy Storage’s latest battery energy storage system (BESS) product, EVLOFLEX, is a fully integrated solution with configurable energy for 1.65 MWh, 2 MWh, or 2.5 MWh.