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 a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, presents the solar irradiance data it collected for North America in May. New York registered a new record on May 18th, when solar power met 20% of the state power demand, while Los Angeles and San Diego rooftops actually received less irradiance during May than New York’s or Boston’s.

Gas and CO2 prices continued their downward trend in the fourth week of May, which led to a general downward trend in prices in European electricity markets and several negative hourly prices were registered, which reached -€400/MWh in Netherlands. The notable exception of the Iberian market, which saw a rise in prices, came from the fall in renewable energy production. During the week, records of solar photovoltaic energy production were reached in Germany, France, and Italy.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, presents the solar irradiance data it collected for North America since early May. The province of Alberta saw close to 100 wildfires raging from the beginning of the month and solar asset operators throughout the impacted regions can expect reduced efficiency from both the irradiance impacts and increased panel soiling.

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.

A British research team has investigated the technical feasibility of an air conditioning unit powered exclusively by solar-plus-storage and has found that two 130 Ah batteries charged by two 400 W solar panels are capable of supporting the system during the night.

India’s annual utility-scale solar deployment is expected to slow down in 2023, following a record-breaking 14 GW of additions in 2022, according to a new report by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Endua has installed its first 100 kW standalone hydrogen power bank in Brisbane, Australia. The news comes weeks after the company raised AUD 11.8 million ($7.81 million) to scale the technology.

Caltech’s space solar program began in 2011 when philanthropist Donald Bren donated more than $100 million in support of the project. In the first demonstration of solar energy beamed to earth, his vision is now becoming reality.

A survey of more than 2,500 residential heat pump owners and 1,000 gas boilers owners in the United Kingdom shows that 83% of respondents are as satisfied or more satisfied with heat pumps than their previous heating systems in homes built before 1900.

France’s GLHD uses AI tech for landscape integration through a tablet app that displays and visualizes fixed structures at agrivoltaic farms.

SolarEdge’s new software-based solution manages and optimizes the electric-vehicle (EV) charging process for sites that have solar resources and large numbers of EVs requiring dynamic load management.

Auxsol’s new three-phase hybrid inverters have efficiency ratings of 97.8% and European efficiency ratings of 97%. They are available in five versions, with power outputs ranging from 5 kW to 12 kW.

China reached 380 GW cumulative installed PV capacity at the end of April, according to new figures from the National Energy Administration (NEA).

Researchers in Morocco have carried out an experimental investigation which has confirmed that even in hot desert climates, the wind has a positive effect on reducing the PV module temperature, improving the electrical production as well as the conversion efficiency.

Chinese researchers have used Mortise-Tenon technology to connect the perovskite absorber with the hole transport layer in a perovskite solar cell. They say that this reduces non-radiative recombination, while improving the cell’s open-circuit voltage and fill factor.

Italian scientists have used a titanium oxide sponge to successfully prevent lead leakage in a semitransparent solar cell. The device has demonstrated comparable efficiency to semi-transparent perovskite devices and has an average visible transmittance (AVT) of 31.4%.

Oman has awarded hydrogen contracts to CIP, Shell, and BP, while Germany has strengthened its hydrogen ties by linking it to broader European initiatives.

Redflow, an Australian redox-flow battery manufacturer, will build one of the world’s largest zinc-based battery energy storage systems in the United States, after signing a multi-million-dollar deal with the California Energy Commission.

Developed by Chinese researchers, the novel hybrid storage technology may achieve an efficiency of over 80% and be applied in distribution and transmission grids. The proposed combination is reportedly able to offer the advantages of gravity energy storage and power-based storage systems in a single solution.

Waaree, India’s largest solar module manufacturer, has placed an order with Jinchen for a 10 GW production line.

An outdated solar installation was decommissioned and recycled in a partnership between Solarcycle, PowerFlex, and Decom Solar.

A new generation of flexible, lightweight modules is entering the market. With back contact technology offering its own form of design flexibility and robustness, the new products could crack a hard-to-address market segment.

TCL Zhonghuan reduced its wafer prices by between 16% and 24%, while its competitor Gokin Solar is raising funds to build additional ingot and wafer capacity. Meanwhile, TW Solar announced a 3.4 GW solar plant across 52 fishponds.

US-based Ecoflow has announced the commercialization of a balcony solar device with a portable power station for residential applications.

US-based Salgenx says it has successfully integrated ultracapacitors with its saltwater redox flow batteries, resulting in significantly better power response and system performance.

Sonnen has introduced a new software solution to seamlessly integrate heat pumps into private household energy supplies and enhance grid stability. The company’s initial partner is heat pump manufacturer NIBE, but additional partners are expected to join in the future.

ZincFive is supplying battery systems for Advanced Power & Energy’s hydrogen-fueling microgrid and pilot DC fast-charging station in Greenville, Pennsylvania

NGK Insulators has switched on 1 MW/5.8 MWh of NAS batteries under a demonstration project to assess the performance of stationary storage at a site operated by Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO).

Mitsubishi Electric has launched a demonstration experiment to assess the efficiency of heat pumps in demand-response control on the Aran Islands in Ireland and San Pietro Island in Italy. As part of the European Union’s REACT project, solar, wind, and storage solutions will also be implemented to enhance the energy self-sufficiency of isolated islands.