Several manufacturers recently brought average mono PERC cell efficiency to 22.5%, and efficiencies will likely go beyond 22.6% in the second half of this year. This suggests that p-PERC cell efficiency could be brought closer to that of n-type, making it more difficult for n-type cells to compete in the increasingly challenging market. Taking costs and market conditions into account, most manufacturers have slowed their capacity expansion plans, leading to a gap between actual output and production capacity. PV InfoLink’s Wells Wang sheds some light on n-type trends in 2020.

The promise of hydrogen as the energy source of the future has long been deliberated by manufacturers, climate professionals, and political figures. These discussions have intensified following the European Commission’s economic recovery package, which features a focus on kick-starting a clean hydrogen economy in Europe. Nikolaos Tsiouvaras, R&D director at Systems Sunlight S.A., a Greek manufacturer of industrial and advanced technology batteries for the energy storage industry, explores storage in Europe.

A new wave of consolidation and some reshuffling is underway among market leaders in the solar EPC space, writes IHS Markit’s Josefin Berg. In 2019, the 30 largest EPC providers globally installed 28 GW of non-residential PV, representing 26% of the total market. This increase from 21% in 2018 stems mainly from a growing concentration in the Chinese PV market, as well as integrator concentration in rapidly growing markets like Spain and Vietnam.

Rajendra Khandalkar, group head of supply chain management at India-based infrastructure engineering, procurement and construction services company Sterling and Wilson, has spoken to pv magazine India about learning from the Covid-19 crisis and the importance of smart supplier management to bolster company resilience.

Clean energy is critical to solving our climate crisis. But we need to consider the full environmental and human health impacts of solar energy generation across its entire lifecycle, including mining, manufacturing, use, decommissioning and recycling. This requires us to identify critical stages in the production process, and how choices in materials and chemicals at different stages of production influence each other.

Covid-19 rescue measures such as delaying electricity bill payments pile added pressure onto energy companies already hit by pandemic-related falls in demand in a continent which a new study suggests is too dependent on donor aid for the development of renewables.

Analysts at Mercom Capital Group have tallied up corporate funding, venture capital and debt and public market investment for battery storage, smart grids and energy efficiency companies. From a financial perspective, the industry appears resilient to the Covid-19 crisis and ready to grow further.

Clean energy electricity generation surpassed that from nuclear and fossil fuels for the sixth successive quarter in the July-to-September window, according to data analyst Enappsys, but Europe saw a fall in solar output and demand patterns at the end of the window may presage a second wave of Covid-19.

The latest edition of the Global Off-grid Solar Market Report by the World Bank and GOGLA has called for regulatory and financial support to help off-grid distributors create jobs lost to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The proportion of clean energy consumed in the EU continues to rise but the European Commission’s State of the Energy Union report is critical of failings in energy efficiency, low-carbon-R&D spending, and the removal of fossil fuel subsidies.

Design-for-recycling is not perceived to be high up the list of priorities for battery manufacturers but solutions do exist. Lithium-ion device recycling is technically feasible but requires an improvement in its business case to take off.

Re-elected South Korean president Moon Jae-in today declared he will follow-up on a campaign trail promise to eliminate carbon emissions by mid century. The announcement comes just two days after Japan’s new prime minister said he would accelerate his nation’s emissions target.

The Indian solar manufacturer has announced the release of its DESERV Galactic Ultra line, which includes the world’s first mono-facial modules to cross peak output of 500 W, using G1-sized (158.75 mm) cells.

If confirmed, the global newly installed PV capacity for this year would be 5% more than that of 2019. China is forecast to be once again the world’s largest market, with 39 GW.

The country’s latest tech-specific PV tender was oversubscribed. The final average prices are slightly higher than those recorded in the last procurement round.

The solar-plus-storage facility will be linked to the mine’s existing thermal power plant and is expected to reduce the cost of the kilowatts currently consumed by its operations by $0.04. The project developer is British oil provider Vivo Energy.

Qi-energy and Candock have developed a raft-based system for utility-scale floating PV plants, based on special high-density polyethylene “dock cubes” supporting a nonmetallic frame.

BOC will compress green hydrogen produced at HyP SA, which taps South Australian solar generation.

According to the Hungarian authorities, 253 of the procurement exercise’s 255 pre-selected projects are for photovoltaic plants. Around 390 GWh will be contracted in an auction that has been significantly oversubscribed.

The city’s executive mayor has said his officials are working with staff at the national Treasury to draw up a program for municipalities across the nation to turn to independent generators for electricity.

Scientists in the Netherlands fabricated three different perovskite layers, all using the same process. The three cells are all tuned to different bandgaps in order to absorb different wavelengths of light. A triple-junction device incorporating all three achieved 16.8% conversion efficiency. This, the researchers say, is a promising result for the technology, though would require the development of new wide-bandgap perovskites to push much further.

The HiKu7 CS 7N-MS series is available with power output ranging from 640-665 W and efficiency ranging from 20.6-21.4%. The panel, which is the most powerful product the company brought to the market to date, is considered ideal for utility-scale and commercial and industrial PV projects.

UK Power Networks’ ‘Power Potential’ project offers small scale generators the chance to be rewarded for voltage-balancing reactive-power services alongside traditional power stations.

Industrial and academic partners are developing a battery inverter which can be grid connected under normal operation but can also use nearby renewables generators to form an island grid, for whole-area uninterrupted power supply.

A scientist familiar with First Solar’s earlier efforts in CIGS makes the case for the CdTe pioneer to return to the technology.

Leading Edge Equipment Technologies falls in the kerfless solar wafer or direct solar wafer category. Its “drop-in” manufacturing tech cuts wafer costs by 50%, drives up commercial PV power by 7%, and reduces manufacturing emissions by 50%. It’s the emissions piece that may be winning over investors.

An improved quarter for Enphase was carried partially by the U.S. launch of the Encharge storage system, as well as impressive revenue improvements in the European market.

Currently producing 10 GW of annual capacity, inverter manufacturer KSTAR says it plans to expand to 15 GW by the end of this year and hopes to double capacity to 30 GW in 2021 after bringing new products to the market. KSTAR vice president, Mr. Ye, talks about solar, storage, and inverters.

The new module, called Vertex S, is designed for residential and commercial rooftop installations. The efficiency of the module is 21%, one percentage point more than the previous model.

China reportedly has 10 GW of heterojunction cell capacity already up and running or under construction. Liyou Yang, general manager at Chinese state-owned manufacturer Jinergy that as costs for the technology continue to fall, more manufacturers in Asia can be expected to make the switch.

Solar manufacturers Longi and Tongwei have frozen next month’s prices.

Engie’s storage subsidiary has unveiled its hydrogen-based energy storage system, built with its proprietary technology, in Agkistro, Greece.

The plan envisages to reach a 30% share of renewable energies in the country’s electricity mix by 2030. An intermediate target of 20% has been set for 2025.

The energy company has invested €33 million in UK-based electrolyzer maker ITM and has started a cooperation with the Italian railway operator to test joint hydrogen solutions for transport.

The French authorities have launched two tenders for projects, in line with a new national plan to develop carbon-free hydrogen, announced Sept. 8.