Ireland introduces home energy loan scheme
The Irish authorities have presented a new plan to allow homeowners to borrow between €5,000 ($5,350) and €75,000 for up to 10 years, with low interest rates. Heat pumps, solar electricity and solar water heater installations are all eligible under the scheme.
Greek developer seeks consultants for Egypt-Greece interconnection studies
Greek renewables developer Elica SA is seeking consultants for two desktop studies related to an electrical interconnection project between Greece and Egypt. The undersea link will transmit green energy to Europe via a 3 GW HDVC connection.
First silicon solar cell celebrates 70th birthday
On April 25, 1954, US researchers presented the first prototype of a usable solar module. The efficiency at that time was around 6%. A lot has happened since then.
Solar key to easing Burundi’s severe energy crisis
Burundi, the poorest country on earth, is unable to buy fossil fuels on theinternational market due to a lack of hard currency. pv magazine spoke with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and a PV analyst to assess the true potential of PV in the nation’s current energy crisis.
PV module fault detection technique based on convolutional neural network
An international research team has used the convolutional neural network (CNN) deep learning algorithm to identify faults in solar panels. Its work showed the proposed technique has a high degree of accuracy, especially if combined with transfer learning models.
Reducing photovoltaic-thermal module temperature with iron, copper oxide
An international research team has proposed using iron oxide and copper oxide to lower photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) solar module temperature. Their analysis showed that the two compounds were able to lower the panels’ operating temperature by 23.49% and 34.58% respectively.
Chemitek offers new cleaning products for floating PV
Chemitek has developed new cleaning products for floating PV arrays. The Portuguese company says it has tested and confirmed them to be safe for animals and vegetation around such systems.
Sodium-ion battery could charge in several seconds
Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have identified a high-energy, high-power hybrid sodium-ion battery capable of charging in just a few seconds. The system integrates anode materials typically used in batteries with cathodes suitable for supercapacitors.
AfDB identifies key priorities for minigrid deployment in Africa
An African Development Bank (AfDB) report covering critical takeaways from the ARE Energy Access Investment Forum 2023 says that challenges in financing, policy, technology, and skills enhancement must be overcome to support the deployment of distributed renewable energy minigrids across Africa.
Indian startup develops sand-based gravity energy storage system
Baud Resources, a clean-tech startup, has developed a gravity energy storage mechanism that uses locally available materials such as sand and industrial waste as its payload. The company is building a 100 MWh pilot plant that will reportedly offer a levelized cost of storage of around INR 2.5 ($0.03)/kWh.
