The Paris Agreement has been signed by all ASEAN nations and almost all members have declared a carbon emissions reduction target. The diversity in ASEAN’s readiness for energy transition is reflected in the wide-ranging nationally determined contribution targets set for reducing greenhouse gases. An immediate quick win for the renewable energy transition is the harnessing of solar power from an abundance of resources in the region.

This year, PV cell manufacturers will face the challenge of transformation. Apart from adjusting the ratio of production for different-sized cells, some manufacturers are turning to next-generation opportunities, shifting investment from p-PERC to n-type technology. PV InfoLink Analyst Amy Fang discusses the issues facing n-type cell development this year.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have seen uneven development in PV installations to date, and the three Baltic states are still highly dependent on imports from Russia. Estonia needs to replace aging energy infrastructure, and so far it has led the region in PV deployments. Latvia, meanwhile, has a high level of hydro in its energy mix, and less incentive to build PV. IHS Markit analyst Susanne von Aichberger examines the latest policy developments in the Baltic states.

In the first installment of a new monthly blog by IHS Markit, Edurne Zoco, executive director for clean energy technology, writes that high prices and increased freight costs are putting solar PV procurement teams under extreme pressure, particularly those teams with connection deadlines this year that were anticipating a more favorable pricing and logistic environment in the second half of 2021.

Until 2016, Nepal suffered from chronic power shortages. At that time, just 65% of the country’s population had access to electricity. Assessing the situation, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) estimated that the country has the potential for 2.1 GW of installed PV capacity. Although the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has officially been able to buy solar power under long-term PPAs since July 2014, the majority of projects granted these contracts have been large-scale hydropower plants. Following slow activity, plans are finally afoot, however, to boost the country’s solar footprint.

Energy efficiency, electrification of heating and transport, and the provision of clean cooking facilities are all going in the wrong direction as the Covid crisis deprived millions in sub-Saharan Africa of electricity use, according to a report by the IEA, IRENA, WHO, World Bank and UN Statistics Division.

The trade show will be held from October 5-7 under the auspices of the Covid-delayed global trade fair.

The 15th edition of the world’s biggest solar exhibition got up and running in Shanghai today and we have exclusive images from the event.

Private sector fossil fuel spending on exploration is drying up just as modest rises in clean energy investments are being observed. With stock market investors increasingly embracing renewables, the IEA has observed positive signals in its latest energy investment report, but warned we are still doing far too little to keep global heating at bay.

Trade organization Solar Energy UK has called for the government to mandate that solar target in a co-ordinated rallying cry issued with two peers. One of them, the Nuclear Industry Association, is a membership body sure to raise hackles in some quarters of the energy transition movement.

The panels will be used for the first 100 MW phase of a 1 GW solar park under construction in in Dachaidan, Qinghai, western China.

Repsol has switched on 90 MW of PV in Spain and Amazon wants to build another large scale solar facility in the country. Both projects are located in the central region of Castilla-La Mancha.

Shunfeng International wants shareholders to wave through the sale of a business unit which offered a rare positive update in its last set of annual accounts. The parent wants to accept an offer for the operation from a company controlled by one of the directors of the seller.

The desalination unit consists of a multistage membrane distillation (MSMD) component that is placed on the backside of a large-area solar cell measuring 16 x 16 cm and utilizes the waste heat of the cell to drive water evaporation. It is able to produce 8.09 kg m2 of freshwater per day and reduce the temperature of the solar cell by up to 14.4 degrees Celsius.

The project is being planned to sell power to the Serbian South East European Power Exchange (SEEPEX) or other off-takers under a power purchase agreement.

A 1 MW electrolyzer in the middle of a residential area in Esslingen, southern Germany, is intended to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of its residents. One of the energy sources used in the project is rooftop PV located in the area.

The cheap loan package agreed at the weekend is part of a wider €340 million development deal and extends Germany’s record of promoting the energy transition of the South Asian nation.

The emirati developer behind the nation’s first private utility scale solar project cited the financial certainty offered by the host government under its national development plan.

The nation installed 1 GW of solar power capacity and 0.2 GW wind during the pandemic-hit first two months of the current fiscal year. The cumulative addition was double that of the same period during the previous year

Yotta Energy’s new micro-inverter is claimed to be an ideal solution for commercial rooftop PV systems linked to between 500 kWh and 1 MWh of storage. The device has a peak efficiency of 96.5% and a nominal maximum power point tracking (MPPT) efficiency of 99.5%.

Researchers in Japan have found a new way to fabricate one of the most promising perovskite materials for PV application — the α-formamidinium lead iodide known as α-FAPbI3. With a pre-synthesized version of this material, they were able to produce a cell with a power conversion efficiency of 23.5% and a lifespan of more than 2,000 hours.

Acciona is testing four second-life batteries with a combined capacity of 130 kWh at its 1.2 MW experimental solar park in Tudela, in the Spanish region of Navarra.

Rice University engineers produced “near-perfect” 2D perovskite crystals for photovoltaic applications, grown from seeds.

A French start-up has developed a concrete flywheel to store solar energy in an innovative way. Currently being tested in France, the storage solution will be initially offered in France’s overseas territories and Africa.

The cell exhibited an open-circuit voltage of 1.1 V and was able to retain around 90% of its initial performance after 215 days of exposure to dim light at room temperature. According to its creators, this performance and the notable stability were ensured by the thermal evaporation technique used for depositing the perovskite layers onto the cell.

Furthermore, Aikosolar is seeking funds to build two solar cell factories totaling 16.5 GW, and China Huaneng Group (CHN) wants to deploy a 2 GW plant including agrivoltaics, floating PV and solar facilities built on fishponds.

The Italian manufacturer has showcased a high-power multi-MPPT string inverter and modular conversion solution – designed to supply both decentralized and centralized systems.

The Solar Energy Manufacturing for America Act would establish a tax credit for domestic solar manufacturers in an effort to boost the U.S. solar supply chain, create American clean energy jobs, compete with Chinese manufacturers, and support energy independence.

Sunil Thamaran, India head for US company Enphase Energy, explains why microinverters are a good investment for rooftop solar. He also talks about the trends in microinverter design and the company’s plans in India.

The solar manufacturer has started trial production of high-efficiency solar cells at its new site in the southern state of Telangana. The fab can produce 19.2%-efficient multi-crystalline cells using MCCE textured black silicon, as well as making 22.5%-efficient mono PERC products.

Israel-based GenCell has unveiled an off-grid hydrogen power solution based on alkaline fuel cell (AFC) technology. Italian energy giant Enel and Russian technology company Rusnano want to set up Russia’s first green-hydrogen production project at a wind farm in the Murmansk region.

With forecasters predicting the carbon price will top €100 per ton by 2030, the latest edition of a Fraunhofer ISE study into electricity generation costs has painted the renewables-versus-fossil fuels conundrum as something of a no-brainer.

Italian hydrogen and fuel cells association H2IT is urging the national government to support investment in green hydrogen and ensure medium-long payback periods. The trade body’s goal is to build large-scale electrolyzers (>100 MW) to decrease green hydrogen’s price below €2.0/kg.

With ‘shovel-ready’ projects across India, Africa and Latin America in line for a mix of grants, cheap loans, equity investment and financial guarantees from this year, the two bodies hope to trigger $20 billion in total funding and bring reliable power to a billion people.

Australia-based TNG Limited has signed an agreement with Malaysian green hydrogen company AGV Energy which will see its vanadium redox flow batteries integrated into the HySustain project to store solar energy for green hydrogen production.