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A new study details how floating photovoltaics impact wind flow and irradiance on lakes, with the effect of influencing water temperature at different depths. However, the report’s authors say more research is needed on how to design systems for maximum benefit to the water bodies themselves.

José Donoso, the president of Spanish solar association UNEF, spoke with pv magazine at Intersolar 2023 about the future of solar manufacturing in Europe, incentives, and the need for Europe and Spain to master the entire PV industrial cycle.

Xavier Daval, the president of Syndicat des énergies renouvelables (SER), the French renewables association – spoke with pv magazine at Intersolar 2023 about solar and nuclear power in France, as well as the prospects for PV prices and installations. He touched on the market for power purchase agreements (PPA) and the outlook for solar manufacturing in France, where PV installations could hit 3 GW this year.

In May alone, the nation’s new PV additions hit 1,040 MW. Its cumulative PV capacity reached 72.5 GW.

Clean Energy Associates (CEA) has performed a safety audit on more than 600 rooftop PV systems and has found that 97% of installations have major safety concerns. It says that 49% of sites have grounding issues, 47% have damaged modules, and 41% have cross-mated connectors.

Researchers in Japan have developed a repair technique for solar modules with damaged busbars and solder ribbons. They claim the new method can be implemented on site, without removing the panels from the array.

Historic meteorological data is typically used to assess solar farm yield and secure project finance, but with climate change beginning to affect every aspect of society, past weather data may no longer be a reliable guide. Everoze Partner Nastasia Pacaut looks at how PV projects can be future-proofed in a changing climate.

Solar’s levelized cost of electricity will reach $30/MWh in 2050, as global capacity surges, said DNV.

According to EUPD Research figures, PV system prices for single-family homes in Germany rose slightly in the second quarter of 2023. Despite falling module prices, analysts do not expect costs to fall significantly in the coming months. Prices also depend heavily on installation context, component selection, and region, which is why price comparisons with average figures, such as those used by Enpal in emails to private households, are not particularly meaningful.

Observatório Fotovoltaico is mapping PV projects across Portugal, with information on installation size, year of commissioning, exploration type, and developer. The free tool already includes around 1,000 projects, corresponding to 60% of the country’s total installed capacity.