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Weekend Read: Excluded from Russian vandalism

Built as a symbol of hope amid disaster, the decision to construct a solar site at Chornobyl may have saved it from the destruction that other power generation facilities suffered during early Russian advances in Ukraine.
Installations

UK may rejoin GW club this year

Recent data published by Great Britain’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) show the country's solar PV cumulative capacity was 15,292.8 MW at the end of July, with newly installed capacity for the first seven months of this year reach...
Installations

Chinese PV Industry Brief: China to add 170 GW of PV in 2023, says S&P

S&P Global Commodity Insights says it expects China to install 170 GW of solar in 2023, with global capacity additions to potentially surpass 400 GW.
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New edition - Solar springs eternal

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Prospects of bringing together PV, storage and EV charging

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Variables to consider in solar module procurement

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

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A manufacturer guide to complying with US module import laws

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Powerful data in PV project development

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Field protection and reliability of solar radiation measurement instruments

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The Hydrogen Stream: H2EX’s Australia ‘natural hydrogen’ survey set for Q4

The International Energy Agency has warned that lagging policy support, rising costs, and supply chain disruptions threaten the profitability of low-emission hydrogen, while the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has ide...
Installations

Suburban grids most vulnerable to high levels of EV, heat pump, PV

Researchers from the Netherlands have assessed the potential integration of heat pumps, electric vehicles, and PV systems into distribution grids. They have discovered that suburban grids could face a higher risk of overload. By using actual data from Du...
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Technology

IIT Mandi researchers identify top-performing solar plants in India

Indian researchers have assessed seven of NTPC's solar plants in various climate zones. They used a fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making method to evaluate economic, technical, environmental, and connectivity issues.
Markets & Policy

Alight to build 100 MW solar plant in Finland

Swedish solar developer Alight says it will enter the Finnish PV market for the first time early next year with a 100 MW ground-mounted solar park in Eurajoki. Alight COO Warren Campbell tells pv magazine that the array will be a 'big project by F...
Installations

GoodWe offering carport solar panels in Australia

China's GoodWe has introduced specialized carport solar panels to the Australian market. The panels are designed to address concerns related to water drainage and wiring.

Press Releases

EU PVSEC 2023 Wraps Up – Innovations are a Decisive Factor in the Global PV Race

The European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (EU PVSEC) 2023 concluded on 22 September 2023, marking another successful year of bringing together over 1850 leading experts, researchers and industry players to present and discuss the latest developments in photovoltaic research and technology.

EnerGaïa 2023: tangible solutions for the near future

The only tradeshow in France to address all forms of renewable energy, EnerGaïa will take place on 13 & 14 December at Montpellier Exhibition Centre. Sponsored by the Occitanie / Pyrénées-Méditerranée Regional Council, Forum EnerGaïa has over the years cemented its status as a major international event for renewables professionals

TrinaTracker secures order for 108 MW smart solar tracking system in Colombia

TrinaTracker has signed a solar tracker supply agreement with Power Construction Corporation of China (POWERCHINA), to supply the Tepuy Solar PV Park in Colombia with 108MW of smart tracking system, including TrinaTracker’s pioneering Vanguard 1P trackers, smart algorithms and Trina Smart Cloud platforms.

Alspec Chooses GoodWe’s Lightweight Solar Panels for Low-Bearing Roofs, Enabling Greener and Cost-effective Manufacturing

Global solar energy solution provider GoodWe has announced a new collaboration with Umax Energy, its authorized distributor, to offer the GoodWe BIPV’s smart BIPV solution to Alspec, a prominent aluminum processing company based in New South Wales.

Opinion & Analysis

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Seasonal solar patterns present opportunity in North Africa

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, explains that the climatology of Africa leads to very different seasonal generation patterns from what European solar producers experience. Data analysed by Solcast, via the Solcast API, shows this seasonal variance from summer to winter in 2023.

China solar cell prices hit record lows

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.

How solar tariffs destroyed tens of thousands of jobs in Germany

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.

Europe’s power price rollercoaster

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.

The Battery Cycle part two: Device lifespan

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.

Benchmarks for solar energy data, methods

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.

Markets & Policy

Featured

Briggs & Stratton launches new lithium iron phosphate battery packages

The battery packages include a battery, an inverter and a control system. The US manufacturer claims its storage systems have a lifespan of over 10,000 cycles and a depth of discharge of 80%.

South Africa streamlines 203 MW of wind-solar-storage hybrid projects

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.

‘Europe is still in the hydrogen race,’ says Bureau Veritas

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.”

European Solar Manufacturing Council urges EU to adopt law against forced labor in PV industry

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.

New research questions priority dispatch for solar PV during peak loads

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.

P-type solar products may be phased out by 2026 as n-type tech ‘rapidly’ expands

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.

Installations

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Ampace unveils battery tech with 15,000-cycle lifespan

Ampace says its new battery cell technology has a 15,000-cycle lifetime. It is suitable for stationary and solar power storage applications, with a potential lifespan of up to 20 years.

Q Energy begins work on Europe’s largest floating PV plant

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 tenders 1.5 GW of wind-solar hybrid projects

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.

Qvantum plans heat pump factory in Hungary

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.

Israeli gas supplier Electra Power exits PV business

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.

Gautam Solar introduces n-type TOPCon solar module series

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

Technology

Featured

Maxeon to acquire shingled cell solar patents from Complete Solaria

Maxeon is set to buy shingled cell solar patents from Complete Solaria. Along with its solar panel patent portfolio, Maxeon will also acquire Complete Solaria’s dealer channel operations and contracts.

Runergy releases new n-type solar module series

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

Vehicle integrated PV system for retractable car-roofs

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.

Booster heat pumps to improve efficiency of ultra-low temperature district heating

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.

Hydrogen stations can avoid unplanned shutdowns with predictive models

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.

Recycling solar panels via supercritical water tech

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.

Manufacturing

Featured

Hyet Solar raises capital for building solar factory in Netherlands

Dutch thin film silicon manufacturer, Hyet Solar, has raised €29 million ($31 million) with Invest-NL contributong €14.5 million of venture debt financing in the round. The company will use the funds to deploy a 40 MW production line at its facility in Arnhem, Netherlands.

Solar energy in the real world – EUPVSEC 2023

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.

Staubli invests in US developer of solar inspection robots

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.

New design for vacuum integrated photovoltaic curtain walls

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.

Swiss utility switches on 200-meter solar bicycle path

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

Silfab Solar to start US cell production, new line of TOPCon panels

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.

Energy Storage

Featured

Enapter introduces new electrolyzer

Enapter has unveiled its new AEM Flex 120 electrolyzer, which is designed to expedite the deployment of hydrogen projects in the industrial and refueling sectors, with a daily production capacity of approximately 53 kg.

California energy storage facility hit by lithium-ion battery fire

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.

The Hydrogen Stream: World’s first green hydrogen plant to heat steel

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.

China’s Gotion launches battery production in Germany

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.

India tenders 1.26 GW of renewable storage

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.

How long do residential solar batteries last?

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.

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