Floating PV reduces water evaporation in Brazilian reservoir by 60%
Brazilian and US researchers have evaluated the water evaporation rate of a floating PV system on a Brazilian reservoir. They said that the 130 kW installation reduced evaporation by 60%, and claimed that a 5 MW system could save enough water for 196 people per year.
Southeast Asia’s largest battery goes online
Sembcorp Industries has connected a 285 MWh battery storage system to the grid on Jurong Island, Singapore. It is reportedly Southeast Asia’s largest energy storage system, featuring 800 large-scale lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries.
Contractor kicks off tender for 7 MW of solar in Lebanon
DT Global, a US-based development firm, is seeking engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors to build a PV plant with 5 MW to 7 MW of capacity in Lebanon.
Portugal installed 890 MW of solar in 2022
Portugal’s cumulative PV capacity hit 2.59 GW at the end of 2022, outpacing the growth of other renewable energy sources. The country failed to meet its own installation predictions, likely because some large-scale projects awarded in the 2019 and 2020 auctions ended up missing their commissioning deadlines.
Brazil has 17 GW of distributed solar, with 32 GW under development
The Brazilian Association of Photovoltaic Solar Energy (ABSolar) says the country has reached 17 GW of installed solar capacity for PV projects below 5 MW in size. Over the past three months, connection requests for distributed-generation PV projects have hit 32 GW.
European Commission introduces Green Deal Industrial Plan
The European Commission listed tax exemptions, flexible aid, and the promotion of local manufacturing among its key strategies for the Green Deal Industrial Plan. However, the SolarPower Europe industry group has criticized the plan’s lack of focus on solar.
LG unveils heat pump for water heating
LG has developed an air source heat pump with the capacity to heat 200 liters to 270 liters of domestic water. It uses R134a as a refrigerant and the pump has a coefficient of performance (COP) of up to 3.85.
New lithium iron phosphate batteries for rooftop solar
V-Tac’s new 10 kWh lithium iron phosphate, wall-mounting battery system purportedly runs for more than 5,000 cycles.
Deploying solar, storage, heat pumps in the Arctic
US researchers have conducted case studies on the successful deployment of distributed renewables in the state of Alaska. In one study, two cities installed 223.5 kW solar PV arrays coupled with 351 kWh batteries and 250 kW inverters, in addition to cold climate heat pumps.
Steam-generating heat pump for industrial applications
The Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT) plans to build a heat pump that generates steam at 184 C at 11 bars without using gas. The tech, which uses natural refrigerants, will be used in the pharmaceutical industry.
