Australia’s biggest solar farm to supply power to supermarket chain
The Queensland government has announced that CleanCo is now providing Coles grocery stores with renewable energy for 95% of its electricity needs in the Australian state.
Reducing PV module temperature with beeswax, paraffin wax
Scientists in Iraq have applied two different kinds of phase-change materials to lower the operating temperatures of PV panels. Their experiment showed that beeswax and paraffin wax are particularly effective in achieving this goal, even when they are combined together.
New model to predict defrost cycles, behavior of air-sourced heat pumps in cold weather
UK-based researchers have developed a novel method to estimate the amount of defrost cycles a heat pump will experience in the winter and how much energy it would require to implement the cycles. The results of their simulation showed a strong relationship between the number of defrost cycles and the ambient temperature.
Tesla Cybertruck can power homes
Tesla’s new trucks offer 11.5 kW of power output to homes, and 9.6 kW of output via five plugs.
California deals blow to rooftop solar
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has prohibited the use of battery-tied solar exports to offset delivery charges, following its decision to slash the value of standalone solar exports in order to encourage the pairing of systems with battery storage.
The Hydrogen Stream: Rolls-Royce opts for SAF, not hydrogen in large aircraft
Rolls-Royce has told pv magazine that it prefers sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) for large commercial flights, but it continues to invest in hydrogen for mid-size aircraft in partnership with easyJet.
China Three Gorges commissions 1 MW pilot PV plant with perovskite panels
China Three Gorges has commissioned a 1 MW pilot solar plant with perovskite panels near Ordos, in China’s Inner Mongolia region. This marks the world’s first commercial PV system to use perovskite tech and features 11,200 modules from an undisclosed manufacturer.
Hybridizing anaerobic digestion with photovoltaic-thermal energy
Scientists in Spain have proposed to combine anaerobic digestion plants with photovoltaic-thermal panels and have found that this combination may achieve an LCOE of $0.045/kWh across several locations in Europe and North America.
EDF, Scatec Africa win South Africa’s battery procurement auction
The South African Government’s Department of Mineral Resources and Energy announced French utility Électricité de France (EDF) will develop 257 MW of battery energy-storage systems across three projects, while South African renewable energy company Scatec Africa will develop one 103 MW project.
Daikin unveils series of residential air-to-air heat pumps
Daikin has released a line of residential air-to-air heat pumps, using difluoromethane (R32) as the refrigerant, with outdoor unit dimensions of 662 mm x 442 mm x 1022 mm. The output ranges from 2.5 kW to 3.5 kW, and the seasonal coefficient of performance (SCOP) is between 4.85 and 5.17.
