South Korean companies Posco and East-West Power are developing a new building-integrated solar photovoltaic solution. The new product uses special galvanized steel as the panel’s backside that Posco says lasts five to ten times longer than standard steel.

Scientists in India have proposed to use solar modules at the end of their lifecycle as a building material for low-cost small housing units. With solar module recycling currently not viable economically, the researchers said their approach makes conventional solar panels into BIPV products without any modifications.

Wood Mackenzie expects 270 GW of new global PV capacity in 2023, up 33% year on year. However, the annual growth rate is anticipated to fall to 1% in 2024 and to increase again by 5% in 2025.

China-based Halead is offering a reflective material for ground-mounted bifacial PV projects, which it claims can increase the annual power production of a solar plant by over 9%. Germany’s TÜV SÜD certified the performance of the solution.

News statistics from South African utility Eskom show that the country added 1.82 GW of new distributed-generation PV capacity in the first six months of this year. However, PV analyst Chris Ahlfedlt warns that the published numbers could also include some utility-scale projects.

A research group in the United States has developed a process to recover lead in its metallic form so that it can be reused in the PV industry. The process relies on a leaching solution based on a combination of acetic acid (CH3COOH) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), which the researchers said leaches the lead ‘in a matter of minutes.’

Scientists in Korea have built a light-emitting diode (LED) facade that can be used in combination with building-integrated PV, with minimal power loss caused by shading. The grid-type LED display can be used as a media façade in buildings making PV power generation more aesthetically appealing.

Romania is resuming the development of the Tarniţa Lăpuşteşti pumped hydro storage project, with a planned capacity of 500 MW to 1 GW. It will be the first installation of its kind in the country.

A new process is described as a tool to assess the value of deferring, relocating, or abandoning PV projects under development in uncertain market conditions. It reportedly allows accommodating different sources of uncertainties with different stochastic features, as well as accounting for the various managerial flexibilities embedded in most solar projects.

Aerocompact, an Austrian manufacturer, has unveiled a ‘universal’ mounting system for pitched roofs that reduces assembly times by up to 40%. It features colored cover plates in red, brown, or anthracite.