Buildings can offer gigawatts of new peak capacity as ‘batteries’
Modeling shows that shifting just one-third of the electricity consumption of commercial and institutional buildings in Australia to the middle of the day, coinciding with peak solar supply, would create almost 12 GW of new peak capacity in the National Electricity Market.
Egyptian utility launches tender for 8.2 MW solar-plus-storage project
State-owned utility Egyptian Electricity Holding Company is requesting expressions of interest for the design, building and operation of a 8.2 MW solar plant and 2 MW/4MWh battery energy storage system, located at the site of an existing microgrid in western Egypt.
Research shows high-albedo ground reflectors increase bifacial solar plant yield by up to 4.5%
Tests conducted by Canadian researchers at the NREL’s testing field in Colorado have shown that ground reflectors based on high-density polyethylene can significantly increase bifacial PV plant performance. They stressed the profitability of this technology is strictly dependent on the location and warned avoiding to combine it with inverter clipping.
PV plant based on 5B’s modular solar tech goes online in Australia
A 4.4 MW solar project featuring modular PV technology from 5B has commenced operations in Australia. The project includes 2 MW/1 MWh of battery storage systems from UK supplier Aggreko.
KIT researchers develop18.2%-efficient perovskite solar cell via scalable inkjet process
Researchers at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have developed a scalable two-step evaporation and inkjet process for perovskite thin-film solar cells. The new technique reportedly enables to build champion cells with the same efficiencies as those made with the spin coating process.
Integrating pumped hydro with compressed air energy storage
A group of Chinese researchers has made a first attempt to integrate pumped hydro with compressed air storage and has found the latter may help the former to better deal with large head variations.
Solar-hydrogen solution rolled out for off-grid settings
A new mobile power generator that combines solar and renewable hydrogen to provide zero-emissions power for remote and off-grid applications has been unveiled by Australian startup H2PowerBox.
Passive solar tracker wind stowing boosts energy production
Solar panels are often tilted to a stowed position to prevent wind damage to utility-scale assets. Array Technologies introduced a passive stowing strategy that reportedly prevents unnecessary production losses.
The Hydrogen Stream: US government targets $2/kg by 2026, $1/kg by 2031
The US Department of Energy says it is aiming for “clean” hydrogen production costs of $2/kg by 2026 and $1/kg by 2031.
Chinese PV Industry Brief: Tongwei, Canadian Solar, JA Solar report earnings
Tongwei, Canadian Solar, TCL Zhonghuan and JA Solar all reported significantly higher profits in 2023.
