Meyer Burger buys wafers from different manufacturers
Before the official start of production, the Swiss photovoltaic manufacturer signed contracts with several suppliers that only use polysilicon produced by Wacker Chemie. Meyer Burger plans to start producing its solar modules and cells in Germany in the second quarter.
Developer secures first approval for 300 MW unsubsidized solar plant in Germany
The Anklam municipality approved the resolution for the project construction. The land-use planning for what could become the largest planned photovoltaic power plant in Germany to date can now begin.
Sweden to devote another $30.8 million to PV rebates for homeowners
The new budget will be devoted to private individuals only. The Swedish Energy Agency has so far devoted around $570 million to the solar rebate program, for the 2009-21 period.
Longi crowned king of solar with 24.5 GW of panels shipped in 2020
With production capacity expanded for solar wafers, cells and modules last year, and set to rise again in 2021, the giant is targeting shipments of 40 GW of panels this time around.
Submarine cable to connect 10.5 GW wind-solar complex in Morocco to the UK grid
UK-based Xlinks is planning to build 10.5 GW of wind and solar in Morocco and sell the power generated by the huge plant in the UK. This should be made possible by a 3,800 km high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line that would be connected to locations in Wales and Devon. The company’s CEO, Simon Morrish, spoke with pv magazine about the ambitious project, and on how it should become feasible.
India’s solar imports dipped 75% in ten months
Covid-19 disruption has been cited as the chief culprit as imports from China, Thailand and Vietnam slumped from April to January, but safeguarding duty also appears to have had an impact, with unaffected imports from nations such as Myanmar, Chad and Russia on the rise and Malaysian trade keeping steady.
Engie exits storage business
The French energy company sold its 60.5% stake in Engie EPS to the Taiwan Cement Corporation for around €132 million.
Spanish developer plans 1 GW solar plant coupled to 80 MW of storage, 100 MW electrolyzer
Soto Solar has submitted the project proposal to the Ministry of the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (Miteco). The solar plant could start production in 2023 or 2024 and will have a generation capacity of more than 2,000 GWh/year.
Battery testing builds certainty
Owners and operators of energy storage systems, as well as investors, need transparent ways to evaluate battery performance. They need certainty that the selected batteries for their ESS projects will perform reliably, have predictable life expectancies, and meet projected revenue and contractual obligations over their lifetimes. The economic viability of entire projects depend on this confidence, writes Michael Kleinberg of DNV.
Solliance hits 28.7% efficiency on perovskite/silicon tandem solar cell
The Dutch consortium has achieved the record result by combining, in a four-terminal tandem configuration, an 18.6% efficient highly near-infrared transparent perovskite with a prototype of a c-Si interdigitated back contact (IBC) silicon heteroJunction (SHJ) cell developed by Japanese electronics manufacturer Panasonic. The perovskite cell was also combined with other kinds of solar cells and other remarkable record efficiencies were hit.
