Utility Scale PV

An international group of researchers has calculated the potential for floating solar across the world. The results show a generation potential of 9,434 TWh per year across 114,555 global reservoirs, with 30% of their area covered. The United States leads with 1,911 TWh per year of potential, followed by China at 1,107 TWh per year and Brazil at 865 TWh per year.

PV deployment is gathering pace in the EU member state but grid capacity shortfalls and unpredictable shifts in government policy need to be addressed if the nation is to harness its full solar – and European energy security – potential.

SolarinBlue has deployed the first units of an offshore PV pilot plant in the Mediterranean Sea, 1.5 km off the port of Sète, France.

India’s Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) has exempted solar projects from domestic content requirements if they are commissioned by March 31, 2024. The move provides developers with the flexibility to source modules at more cost-competitive rates, according to Indian ratings agency ICRA.

ACWA Power says it will develop three PV projects in Tashkent and Samarkand, Uzbekistan. It will also install storage capacity in Tashkent, Bukhara and Samarkand.

Huasun’s new PV modules have an open-circuit voltage of 49.46 V, a short-circuit current of 17.57 A, and a fill factor of 83.29%. Germany’s TÜV SUD has confirmed the results.

Iberdrola is using a springer spaniel in a solar park to smell electrical problems that could lead to power cuts. It is also using a robotic dog to detect and analyze faults in substations.

Dan French, executive producer of the Solar Farm Summit, told pv magazine USA that more than 500 farmers, manufacturers, and community solar developers likely attended the first US agrivoltaics conference in Chicago last week.

India installed 7.7 GW of cumulative, open-access solar capacity by Dec. 31, 2022, following record annual additions of 2.5 GW.

Spain’s Acciona Energia is using fiberglass from the blades of used wind turbines to make the torsion beams of solar trackers. It is using the tech as part of a pilot project in Badajoz, Spain.