US startup secures funding for window mini-split air conditioner
Gradient’s first-generation heat pump heating and cooling system is available for preorder, and ships this summer.
Toshiba exits residential solar business
Japan’s Toshiba says it will now focus on commercial and industrial PV, as well as the development of perovskite solar panels.
Only5mins! – Sunnova’s micro-utility model challenging California utilities
US residential solar specialist Sunnova is seeking approval from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) for its micro-utility business model, which could potentially disrupt the state’s energy landscape. pv magazine speaks to CEO John Berger about plans to develop self-sustaining microgrids by equipping new homes and communities with solar and storage.
AC vs. DC in residential buildings equipped with solar-plus-storage
Scientists in Sweden have compared AC and DC topologies in PV-powered buildings using battery storage. They have found that DC distribution systems can achieve energy savings when they are combined with solar-plus-storage systems.
Romania allocates $666 million for solar rebates
The Romanian authorities say that its new state budget will facilitate the deployment of more than 150,000 PV systems.
Portugal installed 890 MW of solar in 2022
Portugal’s cumulative PV capacity hit 2.59 GW at the end of 2022, outpacing the growth of other renewable energy sources. The country failed to meet its own installation predictions, likely because some large-scale projects awarded in the 2019 and 2020 auctions ended up missing their commissioning deadlines.
Brazil has 17 GW of distributed solar, with 32 GW under development
The Brazilian Association of Photovoltaic Solar Energy (ABSolar) says the country has reached 17 GW of installed solar capacity for PV projects below 5 MW in size. Over the past three months, connection requests for distributed-generation PV projects have hit 32 GW.
TBEA unveils new residential inverters
TBEA has developed new products with nominal power ratings of 10 kW to 25 kW and efficiencies of 98.5%.
Germany installed 7.19 GW of new solar in 2022
Germany deployed around 350 MW of new PV capacity in December alone. Its cumulative solar capacity reached 66.5 GW last year.
Solar may cover the world’s electricity demand with 0.3% of its land area
An international research group claims that raw materials and land availability do not present a real barrier for a global energy system with solar at its center. They said that forecasts for PV growth should not have their axis on utility-scale power plants and instead consider vertical PV, agrivoltaics, and floating PV as the source of future big market volumes.
