How much vertical BIPV is too much?
A French-Italian research group has shown that BIPV facades on buildings can cause a ‘darkening’ effect by reducing light reflectance on nearby installations, dragging down energy production by 11%. The ‘urban heat island effect’ can also weigh on PV system performance, the researchers said.
EU maintains anti-subsidy and anti-dumping duties on solar glass from China
The European Commission has concluded that there are no compelling reasons to scrap definitive countervailing and anti-dumping measures on solar glass imports from China. Currently, the anti-subsidy duties range from 3.2% to 17.1%, while anti-dumping tariffs are between 17.5% and 75.4%.
SunPower to launch 625 W shingled module
Group spinoff Maxeon Solar Technologies will produce the new Performance 5 modules with bifacial mono-PERC solar cells, made from large format eight-inch G12 wafers. The panels boast an efficiency of 21.2%.
The weekend read: Making solar sizzle
What is circular manufacturing, why is it important, and how is it being applied in the solar and storage industries? pv magazine’s UP initiative investigates.
German customs bureau launches another probe into illegal PV module imports
The German authorities have issued 14 search warrants in Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Schleswig-Holstein, and Berlin. The probe is related to imports of 480,000 solar panels in 2014 and 2015, when the European Union had anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on Chinese solar products.
ET Solar unveils new 525/545 W bifacial module series
The Elite Plus module series has a front-side efficiency ranging from 20.0% to 20.7%. The half-cut panel features a transparent backsheet.
Another solar module factory in North Africa
Teriak Industrial Group, a private Egyptian company that specializes in the production of automotive components, owns and operates the new 100 MW manufacturing facility. Spain’s Mondragon Assembly supplied the production line.
LG Electronics launches 370 W ‘paving’ panel with 21.4% efficiency
The PV manufacturer wants to modernize its production operations in South Korea to expand premium module output. It has also announced a new 400 W+ panel.
Pushing the boundaries of PV cell sensitivity
Scientists in Australia and the United States have managed to ‘upconvert’ light from below the silicon bandgap into high-energy light that can be captured by silicon solar cells.
India installed 7.6 GW of solar in the last fiscal year, and plans another 8 GW by April
Some 5.9 GW of utility scale PV generation capacity was added in 2019-20, plus 1.7 GW of rooftop solar, with domestic module manufacturers enjoying around 40% of the market.
