The factory is under development in Eindhoven by Dutch start-up Solarge, and is scheduled to begin manufacturing activities in March.

South Korean researchers have tested four operational modes to combine residential batteries with balcony PV modules and have found that the best configuration is when solar is supplied to the load after the battery is fully charged. Charging the battery with the grid prevents the risk of full discharge in the absence of PV power, they said.

Planned to be located in Gwangju, in southwestern Korea, the new factory is expected to reach a capacity of 385 MW and to produce 550 W panels.

BayWa r.e. and the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE have built a 258 kW agrivoltaic system that hosts apple cultivation under four different crop protection systems. The system utilizes agrivoltaic technology with permanent, light-permeable PV modules that block rain, and tracking PV module tech that blocks rain only if necessary.

The new residential module of the U.S.-based manufacturer has a power conversion efficiency of 20.40%, a size of 1,076×1,957x35mm, and a weight of 21.3kg. The product is claimed to be compatible with next-generation, module-level power electronics.

The cell was fabricated by adding a special additive that improves the low crystallinity and high resistivity of the antimony trisulfide film. On top of the improved efficiency, the device showed an open-circuit voltage of 0.62 V, a short-circuit current density of 15.85 mA/cm² and a fill factor of 59.61%.

The Chinese manufacturer and the University of New South Wales (UNSW) have improved the average cell efficiency by 0.68% through a post-cell hydrogenation process. The cell’s average open-circuit voltage increased by 7 mV from 696 to 703 mV, and the average fill factor from 82.03% to 83.07%.

The World Bank has agreed to finance part of a project owned by Indonesian state-owned utility, PLN. The facility is planned to enable a larger penetration of renewable energy to provide with power two large demand centers in West Java.

The project will be built in Brăila county, southern Romania, at a cost of approximately $42.6 million. Hidroelectrica also wants to build several floating solar plants, totaling 5 MW, at some of its hydropower facilities.

The $1.28 billion plan includes a 3.1 GW production capacity expansion in South Korea, where the company’s solar module capacity will reach 7.6 GW by 2025.