Philippines switches on agrovoltaic complex with 320 MWh battery storage
The Citicore Solar Batangas 1 Power Plants stand as the Philippines’ first integrated agrovoltaic and battery storage facility.
California now hosting canal top solar-plus-storage plant
California has completed the 1.6 MW Nexus canal-top solar pilot, adding a 75 kW iron-flow battery system as part of a $20 million state-funded project to test water and energy benefits.
Malaysian utility plans solar expansion
Sarawak Energy Berhard is working on both expanding its solar capacity and conducting feasibility studies for pumped storage hydropower projects at three locations in the Malaysian state of Sarawak.
IB Solar plans 4 GW TOPCon cell and module factory in India
IB Solar will build a 4 GW tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar cell and module facility in Uttar Pradesh, India, with an investment of about INR 30 billion ($340.2 million). The project has secured land allocation from the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority and is scheduled for commissioning by 2027.
Italy’s first Fer X solar auction draws bids for 10.1 GW
Italy’s first solar auction under the transitional Fer X incentive scheme will be finalized in mid-December. Projects over 1 MW will have to be built with modules, cells and inverters that are not manufactured in China.
Philippines updates net-metering rules to ease adoption for 17,000 users
The Philippines Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has amended net-metering rules to simplify adoption, allow credit banking and transfer, and make renewable energy certificate meters optional for 17,175 users and 157 MW of installed capacity.
Poland allocates record budget for home solar, storage rebate scheme
The budget for the sixth round of Poland’s rebate scheme for residential solar and storage installations was extended to a record PLN 1.85 billion ($511.8 million), up from an original PLN 400 million, after receiving 121,000 applications. Over half of the budget will be allocated to home energy storage facilities.
Midea launches air-to-air heat pump for high latitudes
Conceived for Nordic conditions, the Raynor heat pump features a seasonal coefficient of performance of 5.1 and a cooling seasonal energy efficiency rating of 9.2.
DAS Solar enters back-contact business with 5 GW cell factory
DAS Solar has filed an environmental-impact assessment (EIA) for a 5 GW back-contact (BC) solar cell plant in Guizhou, China, expanding its existing manufacturing operations to supply large-scale and building-integrated PV (BIPV) installations.
Improving TOPCon solar cell performance with rear treatment techniques
Researchers in China have investigated four strategies that minimize TOPCon solar cell surface recombination centers and improve light trapping performance. They identified alkali polishing with micro-texturing as the most suitable technique to improve TOPCon cell open-circuit voltage and fill factor and the overall device performance.
