There are thousands of extraordinarily good pumped hydro energy storage sites around the world with extraordinarily low capital cost. When coupled with batteries, the resulting hybrid system has large energy storage, low cost for both energy and power, and rapid response. Storage is a solved problem.

Solar powered water pumps are one of the most important ways for off-grid communities to gain access to water cheaply and cleanly. Standards are required to enable this market to continue growing and the IEC is working on the appropriate specifications.

In its latest monthly column for pv magazine, IEA PVPS provides a comprehensive overview of the recently released fourth edition of the “Best Practices Handbook for the Collection and Use of Solar Resource Data”. The 530-page handbook, developed by IEA PVPS Task 16 in collaboration with NREL, elaborates on methods and models for accurately collecting solar data to plan and operate energy projects effectively.

This week, Women in Solar Europe (WiSEu) gives voice to Elina Kivelä, chief of staff at Sweden’s Turn Energy. She says companies should implement mandatory physical training, daily wellness hours, great parental leave benefits, health check-ups, and a hybrid work model. “This is crucial for balancing family life, something we know women often struggle with the most,” she states.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that this winter brought dry and warm conditions to most of South America, resulting in higher-than-normal irradiance across the continent. The conditions have been particularly dry in the Amazon basin, favoring wildfire activity, and the resulting smoke has reduced solar irradiance along the plume’s path.

The International Energy Agency says renewables are on course to meet almost half of global electricity demand by 2030, with solar accounting for 80% of the growth in capacity.

Rayzon Solar currently has 4 GW of PV module manufacturing capacity and plans to add 3 GW by December, followed by another 5 GW by September 2025. This will increase its cumulative module capacity to 12 GW per year. The company also plans to build a 1.2 GW cell line by the end of 2025.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) has given the Taiwan Excellent PV Award and Voluntary Product Certification (VPC) to AU Optronics’ (AUO) large-size, dual-glass PV module. The government said the bifacial panel, developed in collaboration with Sino-American Silicon Products (SAS), is notable for its high efficiency and weather resistance.

The UK government has unveiled a cap-and-floor scheme to kick start investment in long-duration energy storage. The first round of applications is scheduled for 2025.

Researchers from China found that big solar power plants have a positive positive impact on the ecological environment of desert areas. Their testing was conducted at a 1 GW solar park located in China’s northeastern Qinghai province.

Researchers in Spain have created a new model to accurately estimate oil production and energy generation in agrivoltaic facilities built in hedgerow olive orchards. The proposed approach also allows the generation of mathematical equations estimating the influence of the system design variable.

SJVN has allocated 1.2 GW of renewables-plus-storage capacity in India at an average price of $0.051/kWh for firm, dispatchable renewable energy.

The city of Cape Town, South Africa, has started building a 7 MW solar plant that it will own and operate. It has also launched a tender for a 5 MW/8 MWh battery energy storage system to be built at the same site.

The Chinese manufacturer says its new frameless heterojunction panels rely on busbarless technology and 210 mm wafers. The new products also feature a temperature coefficient -0.29%/C and weigh only 12.3 kg.

The proposed brackish water desalination system uses photovoltaic electrodialysis to enable direct-drive desalination at high production rates. It already operated for 6 months on real brackish groundwater and was reportedly able to use 94% of the extracted PV energy.

Researchers from Norway and Germany investigated the influence of impurities in fused quartz crucibles used in silicon PV ingot production. The results suggest that the key factors influencing crucible uniformity are sand quality, sand particle size, and aspects of the manufacturing process.

Researchers in France have investigated heterojunction solar module reliability in damp heat environment and have found that sodium ions are the main source of degradation.

New research from India shows that rooftop PV system may have “unintended” consequences on temperartures in urban environments. Rooftop arrays, for example, may potentially lower nighttime temperatures by up to 0.6  C.

Futraheat has developed a 300 kW/1.5 MW heat pump that can reportedly deliver steam up to 130 C and reach a coefficient of performance of 6.2. The first prototype was deployed at a brewery in Sussex.

Truvami has launched an organic PV-powered asset tracker equipped with localization and sensor technology for battery-free use indoors and outdoors, targeting logistics and manufacturing applications.

India added 11.3 GW of solar module and 2 GW of cell manufacturing capacity in the first half of 2024, bringing the country’s cumulative production capacities to 77.2 GW for modules and 7.6 GW for cells, according to Mercom India.

The latest supply chain map from Sinovoltaics tracks growth across Southeast Asia, with module capacity reaching 78.8 GW, and 58 production projects tracked.

Scientists have designed a new building-integrated PV system that uses 30 mm of phase change material on each side of the wall. The array reportedly achieved superior thermoelectric coupling performance compared to reference BIPV systems without PCM.

Developed by Scientists in China, the solar cell reportedly achieved the highest open-circuit voltage ever recorded for an inverted perovksite PV device. The lead carbanion layer was responsible for reducing defects at the interface bewteen the perovskite layer and the electron transport layer.

Indian PV manufacturers are looking beyond tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar. Back-contact (BC) devices are an enticing prospect but many feel the technology is not mature enough. Uma Gupta considers the cost, yield, and reliability challenges that BC solar has to overcome.

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) has approved a final investment decision and started construction of the Arena battery energy storage system (BESS) project, with the aim of supplying energy from the first quarter of 2026.

Infinity says it has delivered a fuel cell prototype to NASA for ground testing, aimed at demonstrating a regenerative energy storage system for potential lunar applications.

New research from Germany shows that the optimal size of residential heat pumps in retrofit buildings can be achieved without factoring in their potential connection to a PV system and related control strategies. An optimal sizing strategy, by contrast, should not neglect electricity price assumptions.

Netherlands-based Giga Storage is advancing its massive Green Turtle battery energy storage project in Belgium, having increased its capacity and assembled the construction team

Avaada will set up a wafer-to-module project to support the company’s existing PV module plant in Dadri. The factory will also manufacture next-generation batteries and electrolyzers.