Solar cell with transparent passivate contact achieves 23.99% efficiency
German scientists have built a solar cell with ultra-thin transparent layers that are claimed to be effective in preventing recombination events. The technology, which has the potential of achieving efficiencies close to 26%, may be easily scaled up for commercial production, according to the researchers.
EIB and Greece agree first in EU to co-manage €5 bln of recovery plan
The European Investment Bank and Greece this week signed a first-of-its-kind agreement to jointly manage €5 billion of investment concerned with the EU member state’s post-Covid recovery plan. The strategy has a key focus on green energy.
I’ve got solar over my skin
Researchers in Japan have built a PV-powered device to measure volumetric variations in blood circulation. The system, which is just a few microns thick, was built with an organic solar module, a polymer light-emitting diode (PLED), and an organic photodetector.
Focus of off-grid funding shifts in Africa
West Africa hogged more than twice as much investment as the east in a year which saw stock market backing plunge an ‘alarming’ 46%, leaving donor grant funding and debt to pick up the slack during a Covid-hit year, according to off-grid industry body GOGLA.
Solar power and sheep, rather than soldiers
BayWa r.e. recently installed a 30 MW solar array on a former military base in France. The project is designed so that farmers can also use the land to breed sheep.
Five bidders to compete in final phase of Uzbekistan’s 200 MW PV tender
The 200 MW solar park will be built in Sherabad, in southeastern Uzbekistan’s Surkhandarya region.
Solar+storage pushing aside US coal, natural gas, says IEEFA
Technology improvements and price declines have made solar and wind the lowest-cost options in most of the United States, according to the Institute for Energy Economic and Financial Analysis.
European PV organization requests €20bn to support manufacturing
The European Union wants to provide €700 billion through its post-pandemic reconstruction program, but the European Solar Manufacturing Council says that €20 billion of the total should be used to shore up the European PV industry.
EBRD leads $6m green finance package for Armenia
Private sector businesses will be offered concessional loans to install solar and other climate change related equipment.
Solar changing shape of electricity prices in Northern Europe
Rising volumes of photovoltaic project capacity are increasing the incidence of negative price periods for electricity–and changing the times of day when they occur.
