2022

The nation installed 12,438 MW of solar, including 10,217 MW of utility-scale and 2,221 of MW rooftop PV, as well as 1,111 MW of wind during the 12 months ending March 31, 2022. The record addition was mainly due to the completion of projects delayed from the previous year.

According to Swiss consultancy Pexapark, around 400 MW of power purchase agreements were closed in Europe in March. Germany and Spain were the most dynamic PPA markets during the first quarter of the year.

Developed by Korean scientists through a novel lift-off-based patterning approach based on swelling-induced crack propagation, the perovskite PV device achieved an open-circuit voltage of 1.16 V, a short-circuit current density of 22.5 mA/cm2, and a fill factor of 77%. With the microcells, the researchers also built a first prototype of a solar window which they claim has vivid colors and high color purity.

Chinese inverter maker Growatt has launched Infinity 1500, a portable power station for off-grid applications.

Myanmar’s government has announced a plan to increase conventional and renewable energy generation to address electricity shortages. Reports from Burmese exiles, however, detail increasing issues for the construction of large scale solar projects tendered prior to the military coup in February 2021 and Chinese inverter manufacturer Sungrow said the project it secured in the country’s first tender has been canceled.

Prior to these amendments, Ontario’s net metering regulation required the customer to own or operate the renewable generation system to qualify as an eligible generator.

The urgency to mitigate climate change and the need for more energy independence in many countries will boost demand for renewable energy to unprecedented levels. Meanwhile, trade conflicts, the logistics crisis, and insufficient supplies of raw materials have disrupted supply chains for the past two years. This has resulted in higher prices for solar equipment, challenging the predictability of on-time delivery and the quality of products. Sebastian Petretschek, TÜV Rheinland’s global head of PV power plants, examines the key issues in module procurement for investors.

Daqo announced its best quarterly financial results, with net profit reaching $535.8 million, while Sungrow saw its profit drop by 19%. Polysilicon manufacturer GCL-Poly changed its name to GCL Technology Holdings Limited and announced a plan to build another 100,000 MT polysilicon factory in Inner Mongolia in partnership with Zhonghuan Semiconductor.

In other news, Volvo has invested in fast-charging battery tech firm StoreDot, Tesla has reported record profits in Q1, and Dutch start-up behind the world’s first commercial grid-independent solar car Lightyear has entered a carsharing partnership.

While a Japanese team developed a series of Er(Ho)Co2-based magnetic cooling alloys for hydrogen cooling, a US research team used a “simple” acid treatment to increase flow of hydrogen atoms within protonic ceramic electrochemical cells (PCECs). Hydrogen-fuelled mobility registered significant developments: the first hydrogen-electric passenger aircraft was piloted between two major airports in Germany, and a 75-passenger ferry service in the San Francisco Bay braces for operations in June.