Utility Scale PV

MicroQuanta, a Chinese perovskite solar specialist, has commissioned a 8.2 MW PV facility based on its 90 W perovskite panels in eastern China.

Mibet, a Chinese PV mounting system supplier, says it has started operating a 51 kW offshore PV pilot project in Xiamen, southeastern China. The 563.286 sqm system, which includes 112 panels, accommodates framed and double-glass PV modules with 60 and 72 cells.

The Bangladesh Power Development Board is inviting bids for the installation of 12 grid-tied solar projects to be located across the country with a combined capacity of 353 MW. The deadline for applications is Feb. 3, 2025.

A Terrasmart Innovation Engineer looks at ways of overcoming weather challenges particular to the installing solar in Midwest states.

The US government says electrolysis could reduce clean-hydrogen production costs to $1/kg by 2031, while ABI Research claims the global levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) will become cost-competitive by the end of this decade, dropping to $2.50/kg.

A consortium of France’s EDF Renewables and China’s SPIC Huanghe Hydropower Development Co. (HHDC) has successfully bid for two solar projects in Saudi Arabia’s fifth renewable energy tender. The partners have signed two 25-year power purchase agreements with Saudi Power Procurement Co. for the energy.

China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) has introduced a new set of measures to support peer-to-peer energy trading. The new initiatives are expected to remove barriers for the further development of distributed PV projects.

The International Energy Agency Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme (IEA PVPS) is starting a new Task 20: Energy Hubs for Green Hydrogen. This joint effort with the IEA Wind and Hydrogen Technology Collaboration Programmes (TCPs) seeks to advance the integration of wind, solar, and hydrogen technologies into hybrid energy systems that produce green hydrogen efficiently and sustainably. Running from 2025 to 2028, Task 20 will address the practical, technical, environmental, and societal challenges associated with hybrid energy hubs, providing actionable insights for their implementation on a global scale.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that European solar generation displayed a sharp north-south divide in November. Southern Europe benefited from a stabilizing high-pressure system that deflected much of the Atlantic’s moisture-laden air masses northward.

The United States is expected to grow its solar fleet by more than 25% from 2023 levels, with over 8 GW of distributed solar and more than 40 GW of utility-scale solar expected to be installed.