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With the third procurement round of the kingdom’s National Renewable Energy Program, the Renewable Energy Project Development Office is tendering four large-scale solar projects. Successful bidders will have to include at least 17% local content in their facilities.

The fourth auction held for systems with a generation capacity no larger than 1 MW saw solar secure 750 MW of projects to leave wind developers in the cold. Innogy took its first steps into Polish PV with 42 projects across three provinces.

U.S. researchers claim to have improved the stability of one of the most promising halide perovskites – α-FAPbI3 – by squeezing the compound’s crystal lattices. The authors of the research prevented the crystal assuming an hexagonal shape at the room temperatures required for a PV device to operate properly.

Danish developer Obton and Ireland’s Shannon Energy have promised to develop the projects within five years. Total investment is expected to be around €300 million and the companies have already acquired projects with a combined generation capacity of 150 MW.

A team at the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory has come up with a new process that would reduce the production cost of highly expensive – and highly efficient – gallium arsenide cells.

The U.S. thin-film manufacturer continues to deny having misled stockholders over solar module defects between 2008 and 2012 and said the settlement had been reached to close the historic legal action and permit the company to remove the uncertainty associated with it.

The research group that developed the cell said the two materials used to produce it, dubbed 2PACz and MeO-2PACz, will soon be commercially available. The material consists of 1-2nm of self-assembled monolayers deposited on the surface of the perovskite by dipping it into a diluted solution.

The government has abrogated a controversial measure introduced last year which favored big developers in the allocation of fiscal incentives for rooftop projects linked to building renovation.

The developer issued the appeal for developers to come forward on the peninsula after selling its second subsidy-free Spanish solar project. The seller did not reveal how much insurance company Talanx has paid for the Don Rodrigo 2 facility.

Barium zirconium sulfide is another chalcogenide perovskite being tested in relation to the development of more efficient solar cells. Researchers at Buffalo University, in New York state, have created a thin-film based on the material they say offers significant light absorption and good charge transport.