Highlights

Norway’s Glint Solar and the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute have developed an algorithm that is able to automatically calculate wave heights and wind directions at potential locations for floating PV arrays. It considers the geometry of the water surface as well as 40 years of data on wind conditions.

The Australian Energy Council’s quarterly solar report points to something getting bigger in the solar industry that isn’t just about large-format modules – average PV system sizes are getting bigger in Australia.

US based battery company Solid Power announced that it has received $130 million in new funding from investors including Ford and BMW. With this backing, the company plans to begin pilot scale production of solid-state lithium-ion batteries suitable for electric vehicles early next year.

The private-sector arm of the World Bank says it will lend up to $150 million to Johannesburg-based Absa Bank for green project funding.

A Florida-based e-mobility company and a business park operator have pledged to invest up to $1 billion into the planned factory, in Chonburi province, starting with a 1 GWh section likely to take shape in 2023.

The tender is expected to be launched between June and July and to be divided into ten lots of 100 MW each. Domestic content requirements for modules, cables and mounting structures should be included in the procurement exercise.

Greenland Gigafactory aims to start building a vertically integrated manufacturing facility in southern Spain later this year. Production activities are scheduled to start in December 2023.

The cell features an open-circuit voltage of 1.1 V and a short-circuit current of 26 milliampere per cm-2, which the research team described as the best performance for an inverted perovskite cell based on single-crystal methylammonium lead triiodide. The device was built with a microns-thick absorber layer placed between an electron transport top layer and a hole-transport bottom layer.

Australia’s national science agency has identified a potential AUD 3.1 billion ($2.4 billion) industry, as the increasing penetration of renewable energy continues to drive growth in the battery energy storage sector.

IHS Markit has released its latest Global Renewables Markets Attractiveness Rankings, based on measures related to investment confidence and ease of development.