Highlights

Scientists have fabricated a working battery using a new type of dual-ion chemistry. The design avoids many of the rare or expensive materials found in today’s lithium-ion batteries, and also comes with an inherently lower risk of fire. The battery showed promising performance, and its creators say they have identified several areas where performance could potentially be improved.

Sun’Agri and RGreen Invest have launched an initiative aimed at deploying around 300 agrivoltaic projects in France by 2025.

China PV module manufacturer Risen Energy has completed the acquisition of Dunan Solar’s polysilicon business and is now operating a 12,000 MT factory. Shanghai-listed PV equipment supplier JYT Corporation wants to build a 24 GW polysilicon manufacturing facility in Sichuan Province.

The Australian state of Victoria is on track to host one of the world’s largest lithium-ion batteries. The 300 MW/450 MWh Victoria Big Battery will be constructed on the outskirts of Geelong.

Frank van Mierlo, the CEO of 1366 Technologies, is a betting man. And he’s betting your humble narrator that high-efficiency tandem solar cells are the near-term commercial future of solar.

The finance is being made available through Santander Brasil as part of an $8 billion global response to Covid-19.

An advocate general at the European Court of Justice has said Italy’s decision to amend the terms of signed, 20-year solar incentive contracts in 2014 does not conflict with European law.

The Spanish government has introduced new rules to procure renewables via auctions. It will hold its third auction by the end of this year.

As Australia’s home battery market begins to catch up to its installed residential solar capacity, the opportunity for large-scale virtual power plants is verging on reality. Indeed, Solar Service Group’s new Solar + Battery Members’ Plan could see Australia host the world’s largest virtual power plant next year.

In a new paper published in the journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, renowned PV scientist Pierre Verlinden examines the solar industry’s trajectory towards the 70 TW of installed capacity that will be needed by 2050, as the best choice for meeting climate targets set out in the 2015 Paris agreement. Silver consumption and recycling, according to Verlinden, will be the biggest challenges in the years to come, as well as ensuring balanced growth and avoiding a major installation rush in the years close to 2050.