European Solar sees warm, cloudy end to winter, linked to record temperatures
In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that in March most European solar operators and grids saw less solar irradiance and production than normal, due to enhanced westerly winds bringing moist air off a relatively warm Atlantic ocean. Large areas of the continent saw irradiance down 10% to 25% below normal for March.
New guide helps US homeowners to go solar
Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have published an open-access guide to rooftop solar and battery energy storage that covers costs, incentives and policies.
Italy adds 2,022 MW/3,836 MWh of distributed storage capacity in 2023
Italy hit 3,367 MW/6,645 MWh of cumulative distributed storage capacity at the end of December. The new figures indicate that lithium-ion technology powers most storage systems, at 516,475 units in total.
California Supreme Court to review rooftop solar net metering
California’s highest court granted review to a lawsuit challenging a “regressive” rooftop solar policy called NEM 3.0.
Solar, wind energy curtailment skyrocketed in Japan in fiscal 2023
New figures from Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) show that wind and solar power curtailment increased significantly to 1.76 TWh over the past 12 months, from 0.57 TWh in fiscal 2022 and 0.53 TWh in fiscal 2023.
Austria earmarks €35 million for battery rebates
The Austrian authorities are granting a rebate of €200 ($214)/kWh to residential and commercial storage systems.
PV-powered heat pumps outperform solar thermal-driven counterparts in densely populated areas
New research from Germany showed that PV-powered heat pumps could require less surface than their solar thermal-driven counterparts in district heating networks. The scientists also found that increasing energy prices would have a minimal impact on the viability of both concepts.
S-5! unveils new mounting systems for rooftop solar
S-5!, a supplier of mounting systems, plans to release two new mounting components for rooftop PV systems, including a new mount that allows for module-level power electronics to be attached directly to solar panel frames.
New York’s open-access solar-projection tool beats commercial competition
NYSolarCast, a solar-projection tool developed by the state of New York to handle its growing base of PV facilities, demonstrated equal or superior performance than competing commercial alternatives, according to a year-long analysis.
Negative electricity prices registered in nearly all European energy markets
Spanish consultancy AleaSoft Energy Forecasting recorded negative hourly electricity prices for all but one European energy market it analyzed during the first week of April, including in the Spanish and Portuguese markets for the first time. It also registered an all-time production record for photovoltaic energy in Portugal and the second highest value ever recorded in Italy.
