Solar facade for 3D-printed concrete house
Taiwan-based Heliartec has deployed a solar facade on a 3D-printed concrete house in Belgium. It said it installed the solar facade with the “circular construction” philosophy in mind.
First PPA-driven solar rooftop in Egypt
Solarizegypt will receive payments from Coca Cola for a 1 MW array it has installed on an industrial facility in Sadat City under the nation’s net metering regime.
The world has 53 million hectares of abandoned cropland suitable for PV deployment
Researchers in Norway have mapped all cropland areas that were abandoned between 1992 and 2015 and found that the vast majority is suitable for PV and bioenergy deployment. Around 30% is located in Asia, followed by the Americas, with a 28% share, and Africa, with a percentage of 22%. Europe and Oceania had shares of 20% and 5%, respectively.
Energy Infrastructure Partners invests €530m in Baywa re
The Baywa group will maintain a 51% stake in the German renewable energy company.
Cooling PV panels with shallow geothermal energy
Iraqi researchers have demonstrated the technical and economical feasibility of using shallow geothermal energy to cool PV systems. They tested two different techniques – a closed-loop system and an open-cycle system – to reduce power losses from 30% to up to 4.1%.
Philippines to host 1 GW of solar under PPAs
Solar Philippines is planning to deploy several unsubsidized solar plants in the provinces of Batangas, Cavite, Nueva Ecija, and Tarlac.
Grace Solar links six strings per motor with Linkage Tracker System
The tracker maker claims its product reduces the need for motors.
The dash to glass
Hong Kong-listed solar company Irico New Energy is preparing to shunt its non solar glass business units into Chinese state-controlled parent Irico Group so it can treble its PV glass production capacity in 2024 with the help of a four-line, $108 million manufacturing facility.
A 26.5% efficient perovskite-silicon tandem cell
Scientists in Switzerland achieved 26.5% efficiency on a perovskite-silicon tandem cell measuring 4cm² and relying on industry-standard screen-printed metallization, further demonstrating the technology’s potential for large-scale production and low-cost electricity generation.
Australian car park to host thousands of solar panels
Australia’s largest shopping mall plans to install more than 400 solar-shaded parking bays as part of a multimillion-dollar parking lot upgrade.
