2023

Solar module prices have hit a new low in recent months, due to market forces that SolarPower Europe describes as a “perfect storm.” The European Solar Manufacturing Council (ESMC) says domestic solar module production fell from 9 GW in 2022 to 1 GW this year, with production now almost at a standstill. The associations say that urgent action is needed to prevent a potential wave of insolvencies in Europe.

Samsung claims its new product is able provide domestic hot water of up to 75 C when the outdoor temperature is between -10 C and 35 C. It relies on an enlarged heat exchanger that the company claims is capable of transferring more heat compared to a conventional outdoor unit.

Longi Chairman Zhong Baoshen said last week that that the company’s hybrid passivated back contact (HPBC) technology will dominate its production capacity in the future.

Tata Power’s greenfield 4.3 GW solar cell and module manufacturing plant in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu is expected to start PV module production by the end of this year.

All new PV plants over 1 MW in the Netherlands will have to use a real-time interface to make their facilities better communicate with the grid operator starting from next year. Utrecht-based Withthegrid, has developed an interface that is compatible with a number of brand-name inverters.

Bangladesh Jute Mills Corp. (BJMC), which manages all government-owned jute factories and industries in the South Asian country, has agreed to buy power from six different project developers under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA).

Israel has announced plans to deploy 2 GW of grid-connected renewables. It will allow for additional renewable plants to be built without causing grid congestion, based on specific parameters.

Zonal Renewables plans to construct a new 100 MW floating solar project on a 90-hectare fishpond in the Philippines, in Cadiz, Negros Occidental province.

Scientists in Turkey have developed a new algorithm to optimize the efficiency of PV-powered water pumps. The novel technique is based on the Extended Kalman–Bucy filter, which is a predictor-corrector algorithm used extensively in control systems engineering for estimating unmeasured states of a process.

Researchers in Australia have provided a series of recommendations to set up regulatory frameworks for PV module recycling and reuse. They said that, as a rule of thumb, landfill bans, tracking of the panels’ serial numbers, and a clear definition of ownership should always be included in the legislation for end-of-life solar products.