When it comes to hybrid microgrids, writes Fabian Baretzky, senior business development and sales manager for Dhybrid Power Systems, the incorporation of various sources of energy and complex requirements for long-term stability of the energy supply require expertise and an effective energy management system.

After China’s National Day holiday, demand started picking up at a slow pace, but the anticipated installation rush did not occur as expected, due to land and financing issues, as well as the return of winter. These factors will also delay the timing of more than 6 GW of capacity to the first half of next year. PV InfoLink has thus downwardly revised its estimates for installed capacity in the fourth quarter to 11.3 GW in China and 30 GW globally, bringing this year’s global demand forecast to below 120 GW.

The EU is solarizing its digital economy at a fast pace. The factors behind this paradigm shift in energy – when renewable energy is projected comprise 90% of the electricity mix in Europe by 2040 – include technical, economic, environmental.

It was a record year for global shipments of single-axis solar photovoltaic (PV) trackers in 2018, as they increased by more than 40%, surpassing 20 GW globally for the first time, writes IHS Markit senior analyst Camron Barati. While the United States continued to be the largest individual market for single-axis trackers last year, shipments also increased in Mexico, Australia, Egypt, Spain, and other large utility-scale markets.

PV industry veteran Karl-Heinz Remmers recalls the trajectory of solar power this decade and predicts stronger than expected development for the ten years ahead.

Solar Energy Corp. of India will sign 25-year power purchase agreements for the projects, which developers will be free to build, own and operate anywhere in India.

A global study has found that Australia lacks interest in electric vehicles, due largely to the impedimental admixture of cost, range anxiety, and a lack of charging options.

Ursula von der Leyen’s newly-appointed EU Commission is facing an early test of its credentials with the European Council caught in the crossfire over citizen data rights. The renewables industry voiced fears yesterday, at a digitalization conference in Berlin, that overstrict data protection rules could kill data-driven business models while the media is set to portray any perceived weakening of the legislation as evidence of EU lawmakers being in thrall to the Silicon Valley internet giants.

The Munich-based group has reported a big impairment on its polysilicon production assets. The company cited the lack of a recovery in the PV project market, persistently low polysilicon prices and overcapacity in manufacturing, blaming state subsidies to Chinese rivals.

The distribution network operator for central and southern Scotland says it wants to maximize onshore renewables potential by adding solar and storage to its clean energy business. The company said hybrid projects combining wind, solar and storage will become the industry standard in 2021.

Chinese scientists have developed a PV floor tile they say is suitable for pavements and cycling tracks. The devices were tested on a ‘green deck’ in Hong Kong. The developers say the tiles have demonstrated satisfactory solar energy conversion, anti-slip performance, heat-resistance and strength.

The Malaysia Automotive, Robotics and IoT Institute is planning a huge solar power project which will integrate agriculture and livestock farming in the Sabah region. The research institute claims to have already secured $50 million for the project’s first, 200 MW phase. The 25,000ha required for the projects will host up to 150,000 cattle as well as cultivation of forage crops such as kenaf, corn, wheat and hay.

Liten, a research institute of the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission, is developing a method of assessing losses at every stage from the reception of solar rays to the injection of electricity into the grid, to ‘make it possible to optimize the maintenance of the power plants to guarantee their performance’.

The Danish Energy Agency allocated 252 MW of clean energy generation capacity, of which 83 MW was solar and 93 MW solar-wind hybrid facilities which included 34.1 MW of PV capacity. The average price premium to be paid on top of wholesale electricity rates to the successful bidders has fallen 30% in a year, prompting the authorities to muse they may be allocating too much public money to support such projects.

The 2.5 MW array will operate under a payment system which guarantees grid operators will not be left out of pocket.

With the absorption of ‘hot’ charges, which lose their energy faster than it can be absorbed by any convention technology, solar cells could become massively more efficient. An international group of scientists has developed a method to examine the bond between a perovskite and charge extraction layer, and determine the most suitable materials for hot charge extraction in a solar cell.

Manufacturers and research institutes from across Europe have announced plans to collaborate on creating improved processes for CIGS module production. Optimistically named SUCCESS, the project targets production line efficiencies of better than 20% for 30x30cm modules.

The combination of pumped hydro with other storage technologies can increase renewables penetration, improve operational safety and reduce maintenance costs at large-scale hydropower plants, according to new research. The study also focuses on techniques to determine the optimal size of renewables-based pumped hydro storage systems. Costs for hybrid solar-pumped hydro projects currently range from $0.098/kWh to $1.36/kWh.

According to new research, metal chalcogenide perovskites can be used as a thermoelectric material than can convert thermal energy from the sun to usable electric power. These materials, which can also be used to develop perovskite PV cells, are known for their high thermal and aqueous stability, along with their nontoxic elemental composition.

Tasmania’s ambitions of becoming the “battery of Australia” improved following early reports on the proposed Marinus Link, a second interconnector between the states of Tasmania and Victoria, which show that the project’s economic advantages far outweigh expected costs.

This quarter, pv magazine‘s UP Initiative focuses on lead – a toxic heavy metal that’s present in many PV technologies, and one that’s often mentioned in connection with hazardous substances across the green energy supply chain. We take a closer look at the issue and ask what it would mean for manufacturers to replace lead in their modules with more environmentally friendly materials.

Tesla was once the unquestioned leader in the U.S. residential rooftop market with a market share of around 33 percent, but today, the company is No. 3, and its market share during the first quarter was a little more than 6 percent.

The Chinese module maker will supply Adani Green Energy with 1.2 GW of Hi MO4 bifacial modules, with cell efficiency reaching 22.5% and module power peaking at 430W (72 cells).

The U.S. business built and sold record-setting gallium-arsenide solar cells but its parent has seemingly run out of patience. Having failed to give its workers notice of the move, Hanergy is either in contravention of U.S. employment law, ‘faltering’ or subject to ‘unforeseen business circumstances’.

An Indian research team has analyzed around 300 scientific studies about PV panel waste containing carcinogenic metals. The researchers said solar module recycling is not economically profitable and policy support is necessary to avoid panels being dumped in landfill.

The Chinese manufacturer has also announced plans for a tenfold production capacity increase, as it wants to cater to all project sizes with two versions of its high-voltage storage system.

Egyptian manufacturer El Sewedy Electric has secured a contract from the authorities in Juba to build the $45 million project in Nesitu county. The African Export-Import Bank is financing the facility.

In what has been a crazy year for Nevada, the Public Utilities Commission is ending on an equally insane note by proposing 1 GW of energy storage to be deployed across the state by the last day of 2030.

Mali is set to host one of the world’s largest off grid solar+storage projects, as a 30 MW solar plant will soon be coupled with a 17MW/15MWh storage facility to power the Fekola gold mine. Finland’s Wärtsilä will supply the battery.

With almost a decade having passed since electric vehicles hit public roads, the price of battery packs has dropped 87% since 2010, according to a report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. With rising efficiency and evolving supply chains, the market research group suggests cumulative demand will bring prices down to parity with internal combustion engine vehicles by 2024.