Residential PV

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) has released an overview of the top US states for solar installations last year.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that persistent high pressure in the upper atmosphere led to irradiance as high as 30% above normal, and new records for solar generation and temperature in North America in mid-February.

Researchers in Portugal have addressed the so-called ‘parking dilemma’ of electric cars incorporating photovoltaic modules. They looked into the tradeoff between charging the car and raising its inside temperature. They calculated the critical time as a function of the car’s solar capacity.

The Swedish manufacturer said its new heat pump is an ideal solution for offices, shops, hotels and industrial buildings. The new product has a size of 15 kW to 41 kW and uses difluoromethane (R-32) as a refrigerant.

Chelion is now introducing its new iHome high-voltage residential battery storage systems in Australia.

SolarPower Europe has held a two-day event to address tensions between rapidly growing PV capacity and the desire to establish a solar industry on the continent.

French pergola specialist Heolian has presented its new Atrium Electron carport solution. The system is equipped with 21.8%-efficient 425 W bifacial modules produced by French manufacturer Duoenergy and microinverters.

The UK manufacturer said its new ground-source heat pump has an nominal thermal rating of 3-6 kW and is able to produce hot water temperatures up to 65 C.

Italy’s most important event for renewable energy took place last week in Rimini with a 41% increase in visitors and about 30% growth in the number of participating brands. This reflects the sustained growth of the Italian PV sector and also underscores the expansion of the trade show, which is now Europe’s second-largest PV event after Germany’s SmarterE – Intersolar.

Employees of G-Store, an Australian solar installation business, have lost their jobs and customers and suppliers are owed millions of dollars now that the company has been placed in the hands of administrators.