US August irradiance: Sunshine before the storm in the South
In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that Tropical Storm Hillary and its associated cloud systems led to significantly lower irradiance than usual for August, in a broad area from Baja, through Southern California, and along the Rockies to British Columbia.
China polysilicon prices rise for the eighth consecutive week
In a new weekly update for pv magazine, OPIS, a Dow Jones company, provides a quick look at the main price trends in the global PV industry.
Fraunhofer ISE helping Holosolis to build Europe’s largest solar factory
Fraunhofer ISE is helping Holosolis to build Europe’s largest PV factory – a 5 GW solar plant in France – by 2025. The German research institute is providing support in technology selection and factory planning.
RayGen opens 4 MW ‘solar hydro’ plant in Australia
Australian energy tech startup RayGen has officially opened a 4 MW solar array and long-duration energy storage project in the state of Victoria. It describes it as the world’s “highest-efficiency PV project” operating at utility scale.
New techique to color flexible thin-film BIPV, VIPV panels
Researchers in South Korea have developed a process to enable colored and flexible, thin film modules suitable for vehicle and building-integrated PV applications. It is reportedly a low-cost process that does not significantly impact power conversion efficiency.
Powering sprinklers with PV, compressed air storage
A research group in China has proposed to solve the typical high working pressure issues of solar-powered sprinklers by using compressed air energy storage (CAES). According to their findings, combined PV-CAES sprinklers can easily achieve high pressure and low intensity high-quality water spraying.
US startup unveils pre-assembled residential solar canopy
Nevada-based World4Solar has designed HelioWing, a modular solar canopy that comes preconfigured and can be installed in just one day.
New model to assess effects of shading on crops in agrivoltaic projects
New research shows the importance of calculating the effects of shading created by PV panels on the photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) at the ground level, which is crucial to assessing crop yield in agrivoltaic projects. The proposed modeling considers different agrivoltaic project typologies across several sites in Europe.
Reliance chairman outlines plans for HJT solar modules, sodium-ion batteries
Mukesh D Ambani, the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, says the company aims to open a fully integrated solar gigafactory by the end of 2025. It also plans to initiate megawatt-level sodium-ion cell production by 2025.
Scientists analyze seasonal performance of rooftop, vertical PV in the Arctic
New research from Finland shows that the best season for rooftop PV generation in the Arctic is spring, and that the best tilt angle for rooftop systems is 28 degrees. It also showed that vertical PV installations perform better in winter.
