Is Mexican utility CFE entering the solar business?
Mexico’s Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) is seeking approval to develop 350 MW of solar in the state of Baja California. The arrays will be built on the same site as the 820 MW Cerro Prieto geothermal project. However, it remains unclear whether the PV installations mark the company’s formal entry into the solar business.
A step forward for single-crystal perovskites
Scientists in the United States have developed a lithography-based process for the fabrication of single-crystal perovskites. Thin films made using this process have been integrated into a range of devices, including solar cells, and have demonstrated better stability performance than their more commonly researched polycrystalline counterparts.
The weekend read: In pursuit of universal energy access
Koen Peters has been the executive director of global offgrid solar association GOGLA since 2014. He has more than 20 years of international work experience, with more than 12 years in relation to energy access. He has gathered insights from many different perspectives and organizations, including government, consulting, startup businesses, and international finance organizations.
Finnish industrial park gets 12 MW smart grid with central inverters
Inverter manufacturer Fimer provided its PVS980-58 central inverter solution for the project, which will derive 35% of its energy from solar PV.
US utility invests in Australian prefab PV system manufacturer
AES, one of the world’s largest power companies, has made a strategic investment in Sydney-based prefabricated solar system manufacturer 5B.
Chinese PV Industry Brief: Big deals in the Middle East
Shanghai Electric has won a contract to build the fifth 900 MW phase of a 5 GW solar park in Dubai. JA Solar also agreed this week to supply 138 MW of PV modules for two projects in Jordan.
Meyer Burger secures creditor approval to buy SolarWorld factory in Germany
Creditors of SolarWorld Industries have approved the sale of a production facility to Meyer Burger. The Swiss tech group plans to manufacture highly efficient solar modules at the plant.
New reports look at 2019 Arizona battery explosion
A series of failures triggered thermal runaway and an explosion at Arizona Public Service Electric’s McMicken battery facility, according to two new reports that look at how to prevent similar disasters in the future.
Germany added 437 MW of PV in June
June installations brought first-half capacity additions to 2.36 GW, as Europe’s largest solar market largely shrugged off the impact of the pandemic.
German PV tender concludes with lowest price of €0.0490/kWh
The country’s latest tech-specific PV tender was oversubscribed, but the final prices are slightly lower than those recorded in the last procurement round.
