Sustainability

Researchers in the Netherlands have identified all major solar power plants in the Dutch Province of Gelderland and have analyzed all of their spatial measures in an effort to assess their impact on landscape. They have specifically focused on land use competition, biodiversity, and landscape experience.

Researchers in Brazil have installed a vertical thermistor chain with six temperature loggers beneath a floating PV plant and at a nearby reference site. The system also recorded dissolved oxygen and photosynthetically active radiation to assess environmental impacts.

Qcells says its new EcoRecycle facility in the US state of Georgia will remove aluminum, glass, silver and copper from used solar modules and process them for re-use.

A digital product passport could support circular practices in the European PV industry by better tracking material composition, recyclability, and supplier information, crucial for material recovery.

Scientists in Spain studied electricity demand data for the Kobe refugee camp in Ethiopia to optimize several minigrid scenarios, also integrating the use of electric pressure cookers. Their analysis showed that introduction of the cooker required an increase in PV capacity of up 68%.

The European Commission has selected projects for €992 million ($1.1 billion) of EU public funding, while the Japanese government has agreed to provide $4.80 in subsidies for hydrogen fuel cell trucks.

Scientists have developed a novel method to identify which hills of coal waste are suitable for the construction of a solar plant. Their technique integrates GIS and the technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution. They tested the new approach suburban areas of Yangquan City, China.

Australian perovskite cell producer Halocell Energy is partnering with University of Queensland researchers to accelerate the commercial production of lead-free solar panels based on record-breaking tin-halide PV cell technology.

Researchers at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya in Spain evaluated 12 PV devices from 11 suppliers for indoor use, identifying several systems capable of powering remote sensor nodes with a 10 cm² surface area and advancing to testing under natural indoor light.

Scientists in Sudan have called for the inclusion of PV module cleaning operations in green building standards to address a key maintenance gap in renewable energy systems. It would target improved system performance in environments where dust and soiling pose persistent challenges.