‘High electricity prices in California have nothing to do with renewables’
Stanford University professor Mark Z. Jacobson spoke to pv magazine about recent research work showing that California could easily rely on a wind-water-solar-dominated large grid. He says the state’s current electricity prices are high because of several reasons that have nothing to do with renewables. These include high fossil gas prices and the cost upgrading aging transmission and distribution lines, among others.
Germany hits 62.7% renewables in 2024 electricity mix, with solar contributing 14%
The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (Fraunhofer ISE) reports that Germany generated 72.2 TWh of solar in Germany in 2024, accounting for 14% of total electricity generation.
Hoymiles launches 5.12 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery for rooftop PV applications
The Chinese manufacturer said its new LB-5D-G2 battery offers excellent performance with 5.12 kWh capacity for a single unit and up to 81.92 kWh for 16 batteries running in parallel.
2024 delivers mixed solar outcomes despite heat records
In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that variations in weather patterns, including El Niño and regional droughts, shaped solar energy performance worldwide last year.
India seeks developers for floating solar projects at 35 dams and reservoirs
Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Agency (UPNEDA) has started accepting expressions of interest (EOI) from developers to set up floating solar projects on a build-own-operate basis in India.
Best practices for PV-powered heat pump design
A British-Swedish research team has reviewed all models for designing and simulating solar-powered heat pumps systems of various complexities. Based on this work, the scientists proposed a new method combining five models across multiple computer programs into a single analysis tool that reportedly produces accurate critical metrics for technical, economic, and climate impact analysis.
Tesla starts trial production at Shanghai Megapack manufacturing plant
Tesla’s Shanghai Megapack factory, its first outside of the United States, has begun trial production.
New research sheds light on impact of sodium-induced degradation in heterojunction solar cells
University of New South Wales researchers investigated the impact of sodium-induced degradation in heterojunction solar cells under accelerated damp-heat testing. They considered three different types of sodium salts and identified the degradation mechanisms attributed to each contaminant.
China’s Jiangsu province launches 27.3 GW offshore solar plan
The authorities in China’s Jiangsu province have launched an offshore solar development plan (2025-30), targeting 27.25 GW from 60 projects. The plan aims to connect 10 GW of offshore solar to the grid by 2027, with a goal of up to 20 GW by 2030.
REC Silicon shuts down polysilicon operations at U.S. site
The reason given for the shutdown is the inability to “improve the level of some key impurities,” and would not be able to deliver a quality product in the time demanded by the company’s main customer.
