Philippines’ first canal-top solar irrigation projects go online
Philippine government’s National Irrigation Administration revealed that two canal-top solar arrays for irrigation purposes were recently commissioned. It also said that 147 solar-powered irrigation projects in the country will be delivered by the end of the year, with 183 in the pipeline for 2024.
Kyocera enters solar generation business
Kyocera has moved into the PV generation business by announcing plans to procure surplus solar from owners of rooftop PV systems in Japan, so it can provide it to businesses through power purchase agreements (PPAs).
Solar records tumble across Central Europe in September
In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that Germany and Central Europe saw their highest September irradiances in at least 17 years, due to an ‘Omega block’ weather pattern, which kept high pressure stuck over Central Europe, leading to consistently clear skies there, but pushed cloud and storms southward.
Luxembourg allocates 52.7 MW in agrivoltaic tender
The Luxembourg Ministry of Energy has allocated 52.7 MW in an agrivoltaics tender. While the final prices from the procurement exercise have not been disclosed, the ministry said it considered ecological and agricultural factors.
Jakson unveils 22.8%-efficient bifacial TOPCon solar panels
Indian manufacturer Jakson introduced its 590 W TOPCon bifacial solar panels, with a power conversion efficiency of 22.86%, at Renewable Energy India Expo 2023 this week.
Spanish startup unveils distributed-generation wind-PV system
Soleolico says its new hybrid system uses ultra-light solar panels from Spanish manufacturer Izpitek and wind turbines that follow the wind through a magnetic system. The system is also able to absorb CO2.
US solar O&M contract prices averaged $7.90/kW in 2022, says WoodMac
Wood Mackenzie says O&M contract prices for US utility-scale project averaged $7.90/kW in 2022, underscoring the growing fragmentation of the solar O&M segment. However, the rankings of the top three vendors have remained unchanged from 2021.
India needs more PV capacity to reach 2027 target of 186 GW
India needs to expand its PV capacity to achieve its 2027 energy target of 186 GW. As of March 31, 2023, the country had already installed 66.7 GW of solar, including an additional 12.9 GW added during the 2023 fiscal year.
High resolution satellite imagery for residential PV system detection
US-based Maxar Technologies used satellite imagery imagery with resolution of 31 cm to 15.5 cm to identify rooftop PV systems in southern Germany. The company claims its new approach was able to identify 97.8% of the solar arrays with high confidence.
Higher demand, lower wind energy prices boost European electricity market prices
In the last week of September, European electricity market prices rose from the previous week. For a majority of prices the weekly average was above €100/MWh and, in several markets, some hourly prices were above €200/MWh. The rise in gas prices, the decrease in wind energy production and higher demand favored this behavior. Brent futures continued to rise, reaching their highest level since November 2022 on September 27.
