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Canadian Solar has agreed to invest $1.5 billion in a 10 GW solar cell and module factory in eastern China. GCL New Energy, meanwhile, has revealed the terms of a plan to sell a solar project portfolio to state-owned Huaneng.

The Italian authorities have awarded four solar projects in yet another undersubscribed renewables tender, with the nation’s top clean energy association criticizing the auctions for being uncompetitive. The lowest price for PV came in at €0.064 ($0.075)/kWh.

Scientists at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne have developed a new ‘chemical innovation’, for the deposition of perovskite solar cells onto a substrate. The method is shown to produce cells at better than 23% efficiency, that remained stable after 500 hours testing at a raised temperature.

Researchers in Israel have suggested the use of regasification of liquefied natural gas to reduce the operating temperature of PV modules in solar parks located at gas terminals. According to them, the feasibility of such a cooling solution could be strengthened by the fact that both the PV systems and the LNG regasification systems are, separately, mature, economical technologies.

German scientists have developed a new electrolyte material that can cope with temperatures of up to 60 C. The material is based on ferrocene, an organometallic molecule known for good redox stability that is commonly used as an internal standard for electrochemical measurements.

Belgian researchers are testing agrivoltaic power generation in a pear orchard. The first pilot project features specially designed 185 W solar panels with transparent backsheets, conventional silicon cells, and a 21% efficiency rate.

Solar has accounted for nearly 3.4% of total national generation thus far this year, with wind contributing 8.5%. Coal, meanwhile, has plunged from about 30% last year to just 17.8%.

As the bloc pushes its digital and green transition agenda, policymakers have looked at the raw materials required. Little is mined, processed or assembled in Europe at present but the European Commission has a plan…

Dutch materials company DSM has sold its resins and functional materials businesses, which encompass its anti-reflective and anti-soiling solar glass coating products. That will mean a focus on module backsheets in DSM’s Advanced Solar business unit.

Chinese solar project developer GCL has added 109 MW of generation capacity to the portfolio it plans to sell to the state-owned buyer but on worse terms than the initial phase of project sales.