Balance of Systems

A couple of weeks ago, Goldman Sachs sent shockwaves through battery metals markets, issuing a prediction that cobalt and lithium in particular were due for a sharp price decline in the next two years. But London-based Benchmark Mineral Intelligence is loudly pushing back, outlining its reasons why it believes the call on lithium was wrong. Meanwhile, US analyst Wood Mackenzie says that the battery raw material chain will remain tight, but notes that recycling could help to ease the supply deficit.

The Chinese company’s new manufacturing facility is equipped with fully automatic production lines and produces all major components for its solar tracker products.

Aerocompact’s new XM-P system was designed for use on all batten heights on pitched tiled roofs. It claims the system can eliminate the need for different types of roof hooks.

The device is claimed to be an ideal solution for deploying solar arrays on Mediterranean roof architecture.

The NX Horizon-XTR tracker can be used with all types of modules and is claimed to be an ideal solution for sloping, uneven, and demanding terrain.

Plans to reestablish a thriving European solar manufacturing base are underway. As part of the UP Initiative’s upcoming Q2 2022 theme on the topic, pv magazine spoke to Johan Lindahl, secretary general of the European Solar Manufacturing Council to understand the challenges and opportunities for domestic manufacturers, and to discover how they could reach the target of forming a full 100GW solar value chain by 2030.

The list of planned gigawatt-scale battery cell manufacturing plants in Europe has grown, with Anglo-Korean battery maker Eurocell announcing plans for a gigafab in Western Europe to start manufacturing at scale within 12 months.

Called Tracker Sun Hunter, the new factory will be located in an area of over 30,000 square meters inside Enel’s Montalto di Castro power plant which is no longer used for energy generation.

The companies will collaborate on what is believed to be a first-of-its-kind attempt to incorporate QuantumScape’s solid-state lithium-metal battery technology into stationary energy storage products.

Local planning committees have given a go-ahead to a £2.5 billion gigafactory in the English West Midlands. The facility will be powered by 100% onsite solar and storage and equipped to both manufacture new batteries and recycle used ones.