North Macedonian utility plans three more tenders for 110 MW of solar
State-owned Elektrani na Severna Makedonija will begin construction on a 10 MW solar plant at its redundant coal plant in Oslomej after signing the engineering, procurement and construction deal with a Turkish contractor. The utility is planning to tender a 10 MW extension of the plant and two more 50 MW solar facilities.
Assessing metal leaching from PV modules dumped in landfill
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.
Hanergy-owned Alta Devices reportedly lays off 250 employees without notice
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’.
pv magazine announces veteran industry journalist, Eric Wesoff, as US senior editor
pv magazine group welcomes Eric Wesoff as the new editorial leader of the U.S. platform. With two decades of experience working in the renewable energy industry, Wesoff brings a plethora of expertise in solar power, advanced batteries, clean technology investing and finance, utility structures, and the electric grid.
France deployed 707 MW of solar in first nine months of 2019
Solar electricity production increased by almost 9.2% in the January-September period, but installations barely changed from the first nine months of the preceding year.
Masdar seals agreement to develop 400 MW of solar in Armenia
The Abu Dhabi-based clean energy group has entered into a formal agreement with an investment fund to develop 400 MW of PV capacity in Armenia, with a projected investment of up to $320 million.
How solar could save the Mekong
A simple feasibility analysis shows the Mekong River in Cambodia would benefit from floating solar plants coupled with storage, rather than more hydro.
Spain’s Balearic Islands assign 362 MW of solar in auction
The Spanish government has selected 55 solar installations in the procurement exercise. About 256 MW of the projects it awarded will be built on Mallorca, while Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera will host 61 MW, 6 MW and 2 MW of new capacity, respectively.
Star Wars’ Death Star with PV modules could surpass global energy needs by 10 times
EOn has calculated the number of PV modules that could theoretically be installed on the Imperial space station from the popular film series. It concluded that even a small version of the station would be able to provide enough solar power to supply 2.5 billion households on Earth.
Japanese researchers explain why organic solar cells are damaged by UV light
Scientists have observed that the efficiency of an organic PV device decreases by around 50% when it is exposed to 100-h light irradiation. They attributed this loss to increased resistance of the organic semiconductor layer.
