BloombergNEF (BNEF) has outlined a potential transition plan for a coal-fired power plant in Belchatow, Poland. It said that 5 GW of solar and 5.7 GW of wind could replace 80% of Belchatow’s lignite generation capacity by 2036, in an optimal scenario.

The International Energy Agency Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme (IEA PVPS) estimates that 173.5 GW of new solar capacity was installed in 2021, and that figure might rise to 260 GW in 2022. pv magazine spoke with the co-chair of the European Solar Manufacturing Council to look into the figures.

TotalEnergies, QatarEnergy, and Marubeni have switched on Qatar’s first large-scale solar plant in Al Kharsaah, west of Doha. The Siraj-1 plant features 2 million Longi Hi-MO 4 bifacial modules mounted on single-axis trackers.

Researchers from China have discovered that 91 abandoned mines in China could host pumped hydropower storage facilities, with a total installed capacity of 15,830 MW.

Prices rose in all European energy markets between July and September, according to a new report by LevelTen Energy. Germany and Poland recorded the highest prices, while Spain and Finland recorded the lowest. Solar PPA prices rose by 15.4% – almost twice as much as wind prices.

E3G and Ember said in a new study that solar and wind have helped to mitigate the impacts of drought across the European Union, amid a 21% decline in hydropower generation and a 19% reduction of available nuclear capacity. Wind and solar generated a record 24% of the bloc’s electricity from March to September.

Scientists from the Central European University in Hungary have estimated the global technical potential of photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) energy production by using a high-resolution geospatial model.

The International Energy Agency Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme (IEA-PVPS) recently published a report on trends in PV applications for the 2021-22 period. Prices for polysilicon, wafers, cells and modules rose, while production capacity expanded in China and beyond.

Brazil’s energy agency has awarded 23.5 MW of solar capacity in its latest auction, at a price of BRL 0.176 ($0.033)/kWh. The auction ceiling price was BRL 0.28 ($0.0529)/kWh.

Chinese scientists have built a selenium solar cell with an alloyed selenium-tellurium absorber, which reportedly reduces interfacial defects. Under standard illumination conditions, the device has an efficiency of 1.85%.