On Dec. 10, European Internal Market and Environment Commissioners Thierry Breton and Virginijus Sinkevičius, in conjunction with Vice President Maroš Šefčovič, announced a keenly anticipated piece of legislation: the commission’s proposal for modernized EU battery rules. Pia Alina Lange – head of communications for Recharge, the European battery industry association – says that while there are potential pitfalls with the new regulation, it could pave the way to sustainable industry development.

The global residential energy storage market continued to grow in 2020, writes IHS Markit Analyst Michael Longson. Many suppliers were looking to build upon a strong first quarter when Covid-19 hit in March 2020 and slowed the market significantly. However, as a result of several funding packages being introduced and the gradual easing of local restrictions, shipments continued to grow throughout the second and third quarters, enabling strong year-on-year growth for the sector in 2020.

An overview of the state of solar across the continent by trade body the Africa Solar Industry Association has highlighted a patchy policy landscape where clean power ambitions are often not followed through.

Despite pandemic-induced impacts, the PV market was bigger than expected last year. In particular, an installation rush in Vietnam and China took place in December and pushed global demand upward. PV InfoLink estimates that global module demand in 2020 reached 140 GW. Analyst Mars Chang delves into the numbers.

Taking a renewable energy project into its operational phase calls for several workstreams to be synchronized. The one that perhaps jumps out the most is permitting processes: correctly navigating the intricate and time-sensitive steps for licenses and permits. Regardless, each workstream calls for a different set of skills, and because of interlinked chicken-or-egg causality, it is difficult to say which single element is most important in a project’s development. However, there is an unsung element of the financial closing which has as much, if not more, impact on a project’s profitability than the cost of debt does: the underlying terms and conditions.

The Amsterdam-based, Australia and central Europe-facing developer saw sales slump thanks to Covid-19 last year but has touted a growing operational project portfolio.

The national PV body in the country wants €1 billion from the EU’s recovery and resilience fund to be allocated to upgrading the electricity network to host more solar power generation capacity.

The kingdom has had a ban on new large scale clean energy projects since January 2019 as Covid-19 exacerbated a situation in which generation capacity already outstripped supply. Lifting that embargo, and re-starting renewables auctions would be a step in the right direction, according to IRENA.

The former need not necessarily relate to conventional lithium-ion batteries, however, as a recent webinar staged by Solarpower Europe and EU body GET.invest discovered.

The European Parliament and Council of Ministers continued to tidy up the details of the bloc’s Covid-recovery package today by publishing the rules of how the money will be disbursed.

In January, India’s cumulative PV capacity reached 38.8 GW. This was enough to surpass wind and make solar the first renewable energy source in the country.

Swiss scientists have analyzed scenarios to predict the role of PV in the global energy mix by 2050 and have found that European entities expect a sharply higher compound annual growth rate than their Asian and North American counterparts. They also noted that the growth scenarios of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are more conservative than other predictions.

Province Resources is pushing ahead quickly with its plan to develop a 1 GW hybrid solar PV and wind farm in Western Australia as part of a proposal to produce renewable hydrogen for domestic and foreign markets.

The obligation will be applied annually from 2022. Colombian power utilities will have to procure the clean energy concerned under long-term contracts lasting at least a decade.

The Turkish government has revealed the tender’s five-day schedule between March 8-12. It also specified how much capacity each of the 36 cities reached by the procurement exercise will have.

The $156.4 million Kom Ombo photovoltaic solar power plant is being developed by Saudi energy giant ACWA Power.

The 11.5 MW solar park is operated by Austrian power provider Wien Energie. The plant includes sheep farming.

Of the 4.5 GW of small-scale solar capacity added in the United States in 2020, California accounted for 31%. New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts are leaders for small-scale solar capacity despite having less favorable solar resources.

The device was developed by an international consortium through the EU-funded project Renewable penetration levered by Efficient Low Voltage Distribution grids (RESOLVD). The power electronic technology is claimed to be able to combine different storage technologies in a single electronic-based board interface.

A 4.8 MW floating PV installation in California has surpassed an array in the metro New York area to become one of the largest floating solar projects in the United States.

The German manufacturer said the result was confirmed by the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The achieved efficiency is claimed to be a world record for a CIGS panel with an integrated series connection of 30×30 cm.

Scientists in Germany demonstrated a slot die coating process for large-scale production of perovskite thin-film solar cells that achieved a maximum efficiency of 20.83%. Using an additive, and experimenting to find the optimal concentration, the group demonstrated improved control over the crystallization process – crucial for developing stable, repeatable processing.

Canadian scientists have developed a way to improve the short-term models used to forecast the impact of snow on PV arrays. The parameters include the warming effect of irradiance on the backs of panels, thermal capacity, and irradiance through snow.

Altrex, a scaffolding and ladder producer in the Netherlands, has developed a new modular lift solution for solar panels. The system can raise one solar panel at a time and can be operated by a single installer using nothing other than a cordless drill, the company claims.

Spain’s Tranesol is setting up two energy communities that will be powered by 2.5 MW of agrivoltaics. The two facilities will be located in the Valencian Community, which is at the forefront for supporting projects for solar power sharing.

Researchers at the University of South Australia are spearheading a national push to establish a stewardship scheme to manage the impacts of PV systems through their life cycle, as increasing numbers of decommissioned solar PV modules threaten a waste management nightmare.

The share of silver in the total cost of PV modules has increased by around 5% in recent months, according to US analyst Matthew Watson. He told pv magazine that silver prices are set to rise, adding that the metal will eventually account for an even larger percentage of overall module costs.

According to JinkoSolar vice president Dany Qian, PV panel prices rose significantly since the second quarter of last year due to an increasing shortage of polysilicon, glass, silver, and module frames. She also stated that rushing demand cannot stop prices from rising for at least the next six months or longer, until sufficient capacity ramps up.

Just as Australia thought its pioneering days were over, it has become the first country in the world to sell General Electric’s new solar inverters.

Edgehog secured the funds from Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC). The special glass is hydrophobic and is claimed to be able to reduce the accumulation of dust and residue, thus reducing the need for maintenance.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has confirmed a recall notice for some of LG Energy Solution’s battery energy storage systems due to potential fire-related risks.

The facility is expected to be located in the state of Ceará and to be powered by around 3.6 GW of wind and solar facilities located in the region. The project developer is Australia-based Enegix Energy.

A handful of companies are challenging Chinese control of a core material in lithium-ion battery production, before the electrification of transport truly kicks off the global battery boom. International Graphite, a Perth-based startup at the forefront of this effort, recently spoke to pv magazine Australia about the surprisingly collaborative race to feed global demand.

A scoping study has found that Global Energy Ventures’ compressed hydrogen ship is technically feasible and ‘highly competitive’ to transport the hyped future fuel at distances that conveniently connect Australia to Asian markets.

According to the German manufacturer, the TS-I HV 80 can combine a wide variety of applications such as optimized self-consumption and intelligent peak load capping.