China’s solar dominance set to continue amid price slide
With solar module oversupply triggering a price freefall in 2023 and no recovery in sight, market consolidation, inventory pile-up, technology shifts, and challenges to reshoring PV manufacturing are set to affect all levels of the solar supply chain.
Netherlands to phase out net-metering scheme in 2027
The new government coalition in the Netherlands says the nation’s current net-metering scheme will be maintained until the end of 2026. The previous Parliament had rejected a proposal to cancel the scheme by the end of 2025.
Fraunhofer ISE unveils rotary printing technique for heterojunction solar cell metallization
Researchers at the German research institute have found that indirect gravure printing for metallization of silicon heterojunction solar cells reduces silver consumption and cycle times to below 0.5 seconds per cell, while still enabling conversion efficiencies of up to 20.7%.
US startup debuts wall-mountable residential heat pump
US-based Quilt has unveiled a residential heat pump with a coefficient of performance (COP) of up to 4 and noise levels of 27 dBA to 47 dBA. The startup recently raised $33 million (€30 million) from a group of investors.
Origin Energy unveils plans for 2 GWh battery in Australia
Australian energy giant Origin Energy has revealed plans to build what could be the biggest battery energy storage system (BESS) in the state of Queensland, as it continues the expansion of its renewable energy generation and storage portfolio.
Atess Power releases new series of BESS containers
Atess Power has developed a new series of battery energy storage system (BESS) containers. The Chinese manufacturer is offering 20 HC and 40 HC containers, as well as battery-only containers with storage capacities up to 3,440 kWh.
World’s largest compressed air energy storage project comes online in China
Zhongchu Guoneng Technology Co., Ltd. (ZCGN) has switched on the world’s largest compressed air energy storage project in China. The $207.8 million energy storage power station has a capacity of 300 MW/1,800 MWh and uses an underground salt cave.
Cadmium-doped perovskite solar cell achieves 22.7% efficiency
A Chinese-Canadian research group has utilized for the first time a cadmium iodide doping technique to stabilize the blade coating process in the manufacturing of solar cells based on formamidinium lead iodide (FAPbI3) perovskite. The academics built a cell showing a considerable increase in efficiency compared to an identical device without cadmium doping.
3D printed clamps for front-surface PV mounting on wood racking
A Chinese-Canadian research team proposed a new PV mounting solution relying on two types of spacers and two types of clamps that can be printed with common printing materials. The cost of the different solutions presented varies from CAD1.50 ($1.10) to CAD3.83.
Tata Power’s Tirunelveli fab to make solar cells from June
Praveer Sinha, CEO and managing director of Tata Power says the company’s 4 GW solar cell factory in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu will be commissioned from next month. It will reach peak production capacity of 4 GW over a period of three months.
