Technology & Products
Solar technology moves fast, as the industry pursues the joint goals of improving efficiency and lowering costs. From tiny tweaks in battery or solar cell materials, to optimizing large-scale system layouts, solar rewards effective innovations with a quick route to market.
As the industry grows, reliability testing becomes more complex and factors like recycling and critical mineral consumption come into the frame as well.
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Polysilicon playbook
Now that the United States has finally announced the outcome of its Section 232 investigation into polysilicon imports, industry analysts and investors alike have been weighing up the expected pros and cons of the policy’s likely impacts, particularly on ingot, wafer and cell manufacturing.
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Great Power successfully completes full-scale fire test
Great Power has completed a full-scale fire test of its 5 MWh energy storage system, with no fire propagation to adjacent containers, no structural collapse, and no thermal runaway observed in any adjacent module.
Hitachi launches CO2 heat pump water heaters with solar-friendly tariff controls
Hitachi has introduced its Y-series EcoCute CO2 heat pump water heaters in Japan, with 370-liter and 460-liter models set to launch from November 2026. The upgraded range adds expanded support for daytime electricity tariffs and PV-linked energy management, alongside a five-year manufacturer warranty.
Heterojunction’s long road to the US solar factory
For a cell technology that has spent much of the past three decades on the verge of a breakthrough, heterojunction (HJT) is enjoying another moment in the spotlight. This time, however, the setting is somewhat unexpected – rather than the established manufacturing centers of China and Southeast Asia, some of the most significant new commitments to HJT are emerging in the United States, Finlay Colville reports.
New energy products emerge in Southern Africa’s renewables market
The final article in a series on energy markets in Southern Africa explores how the liberalisation of the region’s electricity markets is bringing a shift from purely selling variable electricity towards products that are tailored to specific customer and system needs.
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SMUD signs multiple PPAs with Recurrent Energy for 60 MW of solar power
The Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) has signed multiple 20-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) with Recurrent Energy for 60 megawatts (MW) of solar power to be developed in the southern portion of Sacramento County, the U.S. These are the first agreements to come out of the utilitys feed-in tariff program (FIT) introduced in January of this year.
Solar plane successfully completes first ever night flight
The Solar Impulse HB-SIA solar plane has successfully completed its first night flight, thus leading the way for the company to explore human and technological limits further. The achievement, says the company, has marked a milestone in solar aviation history.
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China's Shandong Province lowers PV tariffs
Chinas Shandong province has set an electricity purchase price of 1.7 yuan (25 cents) a kilowatt-hour for photovoltaic (PV) power plants for this year. It has also been said that next year and in 2012 Shandong will lower the tariffs for ground-mounted PV plants to 1.4 yuan and 1.2 yuan a kilowatt-hour, respectively.
Phoenix Solar to see substantial increase in consolidated revenue following proposed German FITs compromise
Following the proposed compromise to cut photovoltaics (PV) feed-in tariff (FIT) incentives by three percent this month, put forward by the German parliamentary mediation committee between the German Bundestag and the Bundesrat for solar promotion yesterday, Phoenix Solar AG has said it expects to see a substantial increase in consolidated revenue”.
Solargiga acquires 51 percent interest in Qinghai Chenguang; intends to ramp up production
Solargiga Energy Holdings Limited has said it intends to acquire 51 percent interest in Qinghai Chenguang New Energy Co., Ltd under a new cooperation agreement with the Xining Economic & Technology Development Zone Administration Committee.
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