U.S. Trade Commission recommends extension of Section 201 solar tariffs
SEIA responds that a new round of tariffs will hamper U.S. solar development and forestall this administration’s vision of becoming a world leader in clean energy.
Storing solar power with compressed carbon dioxide
An Italian company has developed a system that can store energy from wind, solar and grid electricity by compressing and using CO2 without any emissions. The system draws CO2 from an inflatable atmospheric gas holder, stores it, and uses it to produce power again, when demand for stored energy arises.
Utility scale solar goes merchant in Hungary
Photon Energy has deployed its first merchant PV project in Hungary. The company said the €1 million plant may be the first in a series selling power to the spot market. In an interview with pv magazine, Hungarian renewable energy specialist, Ferenc Kis, stated that these projects may become more frequent in the future, due to new coordinated grid connection capacity allocation.
New tank design, autonomous robot for concentrated solar power plants
Two different technological developments were announced this week for concentrated solar power technology. In Australia, a consortium led by Vast Solar filed a patent for a new tank design for thermal energy storage systems. And in the United States, Heliogen announced the rollout of robots to install and clean projects.
India set to record best year ever for new PV additions in 2021
India installed 7.4 GW of new solar capacity in the first nine months of 2021, putting this year on track to become one of the best 12-month periods on record for new PV installations.
Analyst predicts 2030 bidding war for dead EV batteries
A lack of end-of-life batteries this decade is likely to play into the hands of Chinese recyclers located near most of the world’s production facilities, according to analyst WoodMac, but might at least help rebalance the current situation in which new products are cheaper than recycled ones.
Google lends a hand in the search for new solar cell designs with open-source tool
Scientists in the United States developed a computer simulator that can calculate the conversion efficiency of different solar cell materials and configurations – helping to guide research and optimization of new cell designs. The simulator is available to researchers as an open-source tool to save time and spot the best opportunities for optimization of any given approach.
Recyclable, back-contact solar panel from the Netherlands
Conceived by a Dutch consortium, according to Design for Recycling guidelines, the panel is being developed with two different encapsulants, one for the front of the module, which joins the glass and cells together; and a slightly different formulation for the back of the module, which attaches cells and backsheet together.
Plan for solar module gigafactory unveiled in France
An industrial area of the southern region of Occitanie has been identified for the construction of a 2 GW factory. The local development agency is currently seeking potential investors.
Uganda turns to solar mini-grids to level-up its northern region
A spokesperson for London-based installer Winch said the subsidized, $0.29/kWh electricity the networks will offer to villagers is the lowest price for such a system anywhere in the world.
