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ACWA Power secures PPAs for 1.4 GW of solar, 1.5 GWh of storage in Uzbekistan

ACWA Power says it will develop three PV projects in Tashkent and Samarkand, Uzbekistan. It will also install storage capacity in Tashkent, Bukhara and Samarkand.
Markets & Policy

Key takeaways from Solar Solutions

The latest edition of Solar Solutions, the largest solar trade show in the Netherlands, showed that the Dutch PV market is set to stabilize in terms of volumes, while preparing to integrate more heat pumps and storage. The solar sector is asking to move ...
Energy Storage

Bosch unveils propane heat pump for residential applications

Germany's Bosch has developed an air-source heat pump that uses propane (R290) as the refrigerant. It can produce between 3.9 kW and 6.7 kW of heat, and domestic hot water to a temperature of up to 75 C. It says the heat pump can be paired with rooftop s...
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Geopolitics

US-made solar panels could cut emissions by 30%, says study

Reshoring crystalline silicon PV panel manufacturing to the United States by 2035 could cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30% and energy consumption by 13% from 2020 levels, according to scientists from Cornell University.
Markets & Policy

Solitek to build 600 MW solar module factory in Italy

Solitek has revealed plans to build a new manufacturing facility in Benevento, Italy.
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Energy Storage

Australia startup announces nanosilicon tech that may help build better batteries

Australian materials tech developer Kinaltek has unveiled a one-step production process that it says can convert common silica powders into battery-grade nanosilicon for less than 5% of the cost of existing technologies. The innovation paves the way for ...
Manufacturing

Huasun claims 23.30% efficiency, 723.97 W output for utility-scale solar panels

Huasun's new PV modules have an open-circuit voltage of 49.46 V, a short-circuit current of 17.57 A, and a fill factor of 83.29%. Germany's TÜV SUD has confirmed the results.
Manufacturing

Midsummer develops 24.9% efficient 4T tandem perovskite-CIGS solar cell

Midsummer and researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), say that their new tandem PV cell is suitable for the company's Duo production equipment, which makes 56 mm x 156 mm CIGS cells on a flexible stainless steel substrate.

Press Releases

Majid Al Futtaim and Yellow Door Energy Inaugurate the Largest Operating Rooftop Solar Power Plant in Bahrain at Bahrain Mall

The 6. 2 megawatt-peak solar power plant was developed through a solar power purchase agreement between Majid Al Futtaim and Yellow Door Energy.

DEYE Landed in Japan World Smart Energy Week

According to the Strategic Energy Plan issued by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Japan's reduction emission target in 2030 has been raised from 26% to 46%. Previously, the METI also released relevant polities during the pandemic, preparing to achieve 100GW installation capacity in 2030 and 300GW in 2050 to reduce the power shortage.

EP Cube residential energy storage system unveiled at Key Energy in Italy

On March 22, the EP Cube residential energy storage system was unveiled at Key Energy in Italy, and its unique design aroused the interest of many audiences.

IEG: K.EY – The Energy Transition Expo A Conferences Programme with an International Scope

Dozens of events, defined by the Technical Scientific Committee in collaboration with the most important national and foreign Associations, which will feature authoritative speakers and lecturers from the world of academia, research, institutions and companies.

Opinion & Analysis

Featured

When will the world be fossil free?

Despite the ever-growing number of nations committing to attaining a net-zero economy, there appears little prospect yet of a future free of fossil fuels, as Roger Lewis, an environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) expert at Downing LLP explains.

Optimizing off-grid PV systems for different design criteria

A new report by IEA PVPS Task 18 provides a blueprint guide on how to conduct feasibility studies for off-grid and edge-of-grid power systems. The optimal system size and specifications vary depending on the client’s priorities. The desired project outcomes can be identified using pure financial analysis (NPV, IRR) or additionally taking environmental performance into account.

Still big in Japan?

A flat year for solar installation numbers in Japan could be seen as positive in a nation switching to new PV business models, writes Izumi Kaizuka, director of research for Japanese solar consultancy RTS Corp.

State of the (European) union

Gerard Reid, co-founder of corporate finance advisory Alexa Capital, considers whether the EU is up to the task of dealing with the twin threats of the energy crisis and the pull of a revitalized US clean power industry.

North America’s bid to onshore rare earth supply

With electric vehicle (EV) adoption set to turbocharge demand for rare earth elements in Canada and the US this decade, attempts are being made to loosen the region’s dependence on China for the sourcing and processing of such critically important energy transition materials.

Pumped hydro key to meeting storage demand

Pumped hydro energy storage can be readily scaled to any required storage capacity at a known and affordable cost.

Covid-19

African PAYG solar companies have hogged 72% of sector’s investment

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.

Off-grid solar continues to expand

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.

AfDB announces cheap loans to back off-grid solar in Africa

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.

Irena gives latest update on stark chances of electricity access for all by 2030

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.

EU Chips Act proposed to address semiconductor shortages

The European Commission wants to introduce legislation to back semiconductor research and to address the immediate problem of supply chain bottlenecks by drumming up more than €43 billion, with member states and the private sector expected to contribute.

Module and shipping cost inflation could cost the world 50 GW of solar next year

The input costs of the two biggest contributors to solar plant development expense have gone through the roof since the world began to come out of Covid-19 lockdowns, to leave project developers with some difficult choices.

Markets & Policy

Featured

Asia takes the lead on floating PV

Floating PV is consolidating as a growth segment for PV demand, mainly driven by supportive policies and incentives extended by governments across the world. A major reason for this push is the limited land availability in many markets. Despite higher equipment prices compared to ground-mounted installations, developers see the opportunity to save on land and O&M costs. The output can also be as much as 30% higher than a ground-mount PV plant, depending on the site and technology used.

Field data on heat pump efficiency, cold climate performance

Energy Systems Catapult has released interim data from air-source heat pump field monitoring in the United Kingdom between November 2020 and August 2022. Figures show that heat pumps are three times more efficient than gas boilers and that their median coefficient of performance (COP) on cold days is 2.44, compared to 2.80 year round.

Hounen to build 1 GW solar module factory in US

China-based module manufacturer Huonen Solar said it wants to build a panel manufacturing facility in Orangeburg, South Carolina. The factory will produce modules for the US market.

AEG unveils high-voltage residential battery

Germany’s AEG is selling two versions of its new high-voltage residential batteries, with nominal capacities of 10 kWh and 15 kWh. They come with a 10-year warranty and reportedly have a lifecycle of more than 6,000 cycles.

India deployed 2.5 GW of large-scale, unsubsidized solar capacity in 2022

India installed 7.7 GW of cumulative, open-access solar capacity by Dec. 31, 2022, following record annual additions of 2.5 GW.

Reshoring of US solar manufacturing

The Solar Energy Industries Association’s (SEIA) latest white paper on solar and storage manufacturing includes an interactive map. It shows that momentum has started to build for a transformational expansion of domestic solar and storage manufacturing.

Installations

Featured

Australia builds big

While the first half of 2022 was one of the busiest periods on record for new wind projects in Australia, with more than 2 GW breaking ground, solar got off to a much slower start with construction on 635 MW of new PV projects getting underway. Rystad Energy’s David Dixon attributes this slowdown to high cost and supply chain challenges and a lack of available power purchase agreements.

Iberdrola using dogs, robots to monitor solar plants

Iberdrola is using a springer spaniel in a solar park to smell electrical problems that could lead to power cuts. It is also using a robotic dog to detect and analyze faults in substations.

Solar grazing methods a centerpiece of inaugural agrivoltaics conference

Dan French, executive producer of the Solar Farm Summit, told pv magazine USA that more than 500 farmers, manufacturers, and community solar developers likely attended the first US agrivoltaics conference in Chicago last week.

The Hydrogen Stream: Europe to launch hydrogen auctions

The European Commission says it will set up the new European Hydrogen Bank by the end of this year, with additional plans to hand out 10-year contracts in a new hydrogen auction. Linde Engineering, meanwhile, is teaming up with several other companies to test solid oxide electrolyzer cells (SOEC) and ammonia cracking technology.

Around 800 Sungrow batteries affected by outage in Germany

After 800 Sungrow batteries were impacted by an outage, the Chinese manufacturer informed its local German partners about the solution to the problem. However, it remains unclear how quickly the affected battery management systems can be replaced.

Common misconceptions about residential PV

More and more people want to invest in PV arrays and battery storage systems. However, there are a number of myths that could lead to disappointment among customers, according to one German consumer association.

Technology

Featured

Copper is the new silver lining

As the PV industry scales to annual terawatt-level production to rapidly curtail the world’s emissions, it will become more challenging to continue the cost reduction trajectory. Increasing module production from current levels of 200 GW to 300 GW to several terawatts each year will consume significantly more material resources than the industry currently uses. This will require consideration of the additional materials to be sourced, writes Alison Lennon, chief scientist at Sundrive Solar and professor at the UNSW’s School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering.

Lead-free perovskite solar cell achieves 24.1% efficiency

Researchers in Singapore have developed a perovskite solar cell via a new method to synthesize the capping without using lead. The cell is capped with a zinc-based compound and reportedly has a conversion efficiency of 24.1%.

Weekend Read: As simple as IBC

The search for ever higher conversion efficiency has driven solar researchers to focus on back-contact cell approaches, and efforts to devise more cost-effective manufacturing are bringing technologies such as interdigitated back contact (IBC) solar into the mainstream, as Mark Hutchins reports.

Light redirecting film to improve heterojunction solar module performance

Finnish technology company Intelligent Control Systems has conceived a light redirecting film that purportedly reduces energy losses in the edge area of heterojunction solar cells. It claims the film may increase the power conversion efficiency of a heterojunction module by up to 0.75%.

Kesterite solar cell with transparent electrode achieves 11.4% efficiency

Chinese researchers fabricated a kesterite PV device using a transparent fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate instead of substrates based on opaque Mo-coated soda lime glass. The cell has an open-circuit voltage of 0.522 V, a short-circuit current of 33.0 mA cm−2, and a fill factor of 68.55%.

Mitsubishi unveils propane heat pump for residential applications

Mitsubishi Electric has developed an air-source heat pump that uses propane (R290) as the refrigerant. It can produce between 5 kW and 8.5 kW of heat and domestic hot water to a temperature of up to 75 C.

Manufacturing

Featured

Catalyst for an EU comeback

Plans for Europe’s largest-ever PV cell and module factory are taking shape, with equipment orders placed and a projected start date in mid-2024. Enel Green Power has received €118 million ($116.36 million) in funding from the EU Innovation Fund to support the project, out of a total €600 million investment. The EU is hoping it will catalyze further investment in similar projects, and start a high-tech comeback for European solar manufacturing.

Huasun begins mass production of 25% efficiency bifacial heterojunction solar cells

Huasun has switched on the manufacturing lines for its new heterojunction module factory in China’s Anhui province.

Belinus unveils shingle solar panels with 20.1% efficiency

Belgium-based Belinus says its new PV modules feature a nominal power rating of 420 W and a power conversion efficiency of 20.1%. It says plans are also in place to build a 500 MW solar panel factory at an unspecified Belgian site.

Zendure introduces residential batteries for balcony solar modules

Zendure’s SolarFlow batteries have capacities of 960 Wh and can be stacked up to 3,849 Wh. The US manufacturer wants to begin selling the plug-and-play systems in April.

Solar mounting structure made of recycled wind turbine blades

Spain’s Acciona Energia is using fiberglass from the blades of used wind turbines to make the torsion beams of solar trackers. It is using the tech as part of a pilot project in Badajoz, Spain.

CEA-INES, Enel achieve 26.5% efficiency for tandem perovskite-silicon solar cell

CEA-INES researchers and Enel have developed a new solar cell with an active area of 9 cm² and an open-circuit voltage above 1,880 mV. Their results improve on the 25.8% efficiency they achieved for the same kind of cell in December 2022.

Energy Storage

Featured

Cobalt clings on

Cobalt is key for boosting energy density and battery life, but it comes with caveats: expensive, scarce, and linked to unethical mining practices, wild price fluctuations, and a tenuous supply chain. In recent years, battery manufacturers and automakers have intensified efforts to reduce or eliminate cobalt in lithium-ion cathodes. But sometimes, old habits die hard, as pv magazine’s Marija Maisch explains.

Australian utility unveils plans for 800 MWh big battery

Synergy, a utility owned by the Western Australian government, has revealed plans to build a new 200 MW/800 MWh battery energy storage system in the city of Kwinana, in order to support the state’s main grid and enable the uptake of more renewables.

UK cathedral to install solar, storage system

York Minster, one of the largest cathedrals in Northern Europe, has secured approval to install 199 solar modules on its rooftop. The system will generate at least 75,000 kWh per year and will be paired with batteries.

New plug-and-play mobile PV system

The “Solar Box” mobile power plant is a container consisting of solar modules, a battery storage system, and a hydrogen storage system. According to Austria’s Alternative Energy Projects (AEP), the system starts at 94 kW and can be scaled up to more than 5 MW.

The Hydrogen Stream: Fuel cells for large aircraft nearing development

In its bid to develop fuel cells for aircraft with over 100 seats within 24 months, ZeroAvia has revealed record-breaking hydrogen fuel cell performance tests. Meanwhile, Universal Hydrogen and local partners are teaming up to build hydrogen infrastructures for aviation in Japan amid a push towards hydrogen infrastructure and mobility.

Kenya to combat rural energy access gap with over 130 solar minigrids

Kenya’s government plans to build 137 solar minigrids across remote locations in the East African country. The project received $150 million in funding from the World Bank.

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