India’s installed solar capacity hits 41.6 GW
India’s cumulative installed solar capacity stood at 41.6 GW as of Dec. 31, 2020, with 1.29 GW added in the October-December period. Capacity additions in the first quarter of this year could surpass 2 GW.
Tesvolt launches commercial battery with inverter and energy management system
According to the German manufacturer, the TS-I HV 80 can combine a wide variety of applications such as optimized self-consumption and intelligent peak load capping.
GCL-Poly continues to ramp production capacity commitments
The poly maker is making significant investment pledges into new production lines in Sichuan and Inner Mongolia.
Germany deployed more than half a gigawatt of solar in January
The rooftop segment was once again the main growth driver in the German PV sector. The feed-in tariff for PV systems not exceeding 10 kW in size will drop under the €0.08/kWh for the first time.
Pumped hydro with desalination, powered by renewables
EDF and Oceanus plan to build a pumped hydro storage station and a desalination system powered by wind and solar. The system will use saltwater to produce hydropower during periods of high demand, while producing affordable freshwater.
Novel nanomaterial to replace graphite in lithium-ion batteries
Porous nanostructured microspheres made of copper, iron, and iron oxide were used by an international research team as negative anode material in lithium-ion batteries. The new technique is claimed to provide three times more capacity than batteries based on graphite anodes.
France installed 973 MW of solar in 2020
The country’s cumulative installed PV power reached 10.9 GW as of the end of December. Last year, solar covered 2.9% of the nation’s electricity demand.
Perovskite solar cell with cesium-titanium dioxide nanotubes
A global research group has developed a perovskite PV cell with titanium dioxide nanotubes doped with cesium. It purportedly offers better short-circuit current and power conversion efficiency than cells without cesium nanoparticles. They say it has optimal thermal stability under temperatures up to 800 C.
IKEA completes first MW-scale solar carport in US market
Distributed Solar Development has built a solar carport for IKEA in Baltimore. It will also handle the furniture giant’s other projects in Maryland and California.
Infrastructure Australia adds world’s biggest PV project to priority list
Sun Cable’s ambitious 13 GW Australia-ASEAN Power Link, which is designed to export solar electricity from Australia’s Northern Territory to Singapore, continues to shine bright, with the Australian government including the mega-project on its Priority Initiative List.
