In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports the Typhoon Yagi caused a significant reduction in solar power generation across key cities in Vietnam, China, and the Philippines, with some areas reporting their lowest irradiance days on record for September.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, OPIS, a Dow Jones company, provides a quick look at the main price trends in the global PV industry.

Researchers led by scientists from CNRS in France are exploring an exotic form of silicon called silicon clathrate as a material for energy applications, including photovoltaics. Mastering the synthesis and using appropriate characterizations are key elements towards potential applications. Significant progress is being made for the fabrication of functional devices.

This week, Women in Solar Europe (WiSEu) gives voice to Filipa Monteiro Martins, Renewables Innovation Unit Manager at Portuguese energy company Galp. She says that inclusion is a critical driver of long-term business success and innovation, especially in the renewable energy industry, where the ability to adapt and evolve is key.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, OPIS, a Dow Jones company, provides a quick look at the main price trends in the global PV industry.

Dubai-based developer Amea Power has agreed to build a 1 GW solar plant with a 600 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) and an additional 300 MWh BESS. This follows the signing of two power purchase agreements (PPAs) with Egyptian Electricity Transmission Co.

Solar Energy Corp. of India (SECI) has started accepting bids to set up 2 GW of renewable energy projects backed with energy storage systems for assured peak supply of 8 GWh. Bidding closes on Oct. 14.

Lebanon’s Minister of Energy and Water has opened a tender for an 8 MW solar plant that will be publicly funded and connected to the medium-voltage grid to supply power to Electricité du Liban.

Scientists have proposed a new system that uses surplus PV energy in the spring and the autumn to charge up underground thermal energy storage for later use in the summer and winter. They have simulated it on a school facility in Seoul, with a few optional configurations for thermal storage. Power savings were up to 39%.

The Dengkou Renewable Energy Storage Project is billed as the largest single-capacity energy storage station under construction in China.

Belgium’s transmission and distribution system operator says it plans to allow household solar panels and batteries with a plug and socket to connect to the grid from May 2025.

Norwegian developer Scatec ASA has signed a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) for a 1 GW solar array and 100 MW/200 MWh battery storage project in Egypt. CEO Terje Pilskog says it is Egypt’s first hybrid solar-plus-battery project.

Enel has finished installing PV modules at a 486.7 MW solar park in Colombia. Once fully operational, it will be the largest PV project in the country.

Chinese module maker Aiko Solar says it has built a 150 kW off-grid solar carport at an altitude of 4,300 meters on Mount Everest, featuring 645 W bifacial dual-glass modules and 200 kWh of battery storage.

Developed by a Chinese research group, the novel refrigerant is made of a mixture of carbon dioxide (CO2) and a non-flammable hydrofluoroolefin. It has slightly higher costs compared to conventional compounds, but its creators claims these costs could be significantly reduced with large-scale industrial production.

A research paper from scientists at Swansea University describes their tool for analyzing thermodynamic limits of organic semiconductor-based photovoltaics (OPVs). One of the findings was that semi-transparent solar PV deployed in greenhouses may deliver comparable performance to conventional crystalline silicon PV.

Australia’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation has backed a hydrogen fuel cell developer $7 million to support an innovative form of technology using silicon-based bipolar plates.

The device developed by TU Bergakademie Freiberg researchers uses aluminum as an anode, graphite as a cathode, and a polymer-based solid electrolyte. It is being validated and further developed for industrial production. The goal is storage capacity of 10 kWh.

In a paper published in nature, the Chinese module maker explained that the 33.9%-efficient tandem device it unveiled in December 2023 is based on a bilayer intertwined passivation strategy that combines efficient electron extraction with further suppression of nonradiative recombination. It also revealed that its two-terminal tandem prototype devices achieved an efficiency of 34.6%.

New research from India shows how bifacial solar modules should be deployed to achieve strong performance in floating PV projects planned on tropical freshwater. Their experimental setup demonstrated that higher efficiency gains are achievable by gauging panel height, water depth, and tilt angle.

Webasto, a German automotive industry supplier and developer of vehicle integrated PV, unveiled a new sun roof system concept with components that are 40% lighter and a capacity of 350 kWh per year.

The Canada-based manufacturer said its new panels have a temperature coefficient of -0.29% per C and an efficiency of up to 22.92%. They come with a 30-year power output guarantee for 89.3% of the initial yield.

Gopal Kabra, the founder and CEO of GK Energy, speaks to pv magazine about India’s solar pump market, its key drivers, and future outlook.

Researchers have used the chimp optimization algorithm to optimize the hyperparameters of five PV power yield prediction machine learning models. This algorithm is based on the cooperative hunting behavior of chimpanzees in nature, mimicking the way they work together to target prey.

Developed by researchers in China, the TOPCon solar cell was screen printed with a paste made of silver and aluminum on the front side and an aluminum-only paste on the rear side. They added silicon to the aluminum paste to reduce metal recombination and improve the device’s open-circuit voltage.

Antonio Delgado Rigal, CEO of Spain’s AleaSoft Energy Forecasting, speaks with pv magazine about the rise in negative price hours in major European energy markets. He emphasizes the need for more storage capacity and argues that negative price periods will probably not threaten project profitability over the long term.

The conditions are in place for the country’s battery energy storage market to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20% to 30%, as Holu Solar’s Sophia Costa explained.

The US-based storage system providers said its new batteries are configurable in 3 kWh modular increments up to 4 cabinets per site. Their roundtrip efficiency ranges from 88% to 91%.

The largest heat pump in the Netherlands is now online at the Utrecht sewage treatment plant. It generates heat up to 75 C for the local network by using purified hot wastewater from a regional water authority.

The two US-based companies are showcasing their new home energy system with up to 123.2 kWh of storage at RE+ 2024 event in the United States. The new product has four MPPTs, with a max current of 16 A per string.