Asia

India set a new record for monthly renewable energy installations by deploying 7.1 GW of capacity in March 2024. The monthly renewables additions included more than 6.2 GW of solar.

Researchers in China have designed a two-stage, solar-assisted thermochemical heat pump system that uses caustic soda and water as a working pair. The system is reportedly able to achieve an energy storage density of 363 kWh/m3 and is considered by its creators an ideal solution for residential buildings with limited space.

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.

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.

The Chinese manufacturer launched two new module series for utility scale applications. The new products feature a temperature coefficient of -0.24% per C and a bifaciality factor of over 85%.

The Indian authorities say the nation’s latest 10 GWh tender was oversubscribed. It attracted seven bidders, including ACME Cleantech Solutions, Reliance Industries, and Waaree Energies.

Chinese module manufacturer JinkoSolar has recorded roughly $16.4 billion of revenue and a $1.06 billion net profit for 2023, with PV module shipments reaching 78.52 GW. Its module manufacturing capacity hit 110 GW at the end of December.

The South Korean government has announced a new package of measures to support agrivoltaic projects. It says that the agrivoltaics business should be a priority for agricultural companies.

A group of researchers in Iran has analyzed the coefficient of performance and the energy consumption of a solar-assisted heat pumps and an air-source heat pumps and has found that three factors are crucial to determine their annual performance – irradiance changes, ambient temperature, and wind speed.

The recent COP28 meeting resulted in targets to triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030, and demand for solar power is expected to continue to grow amid a market that is transitioning toward more advanced technologies. Here we examine the outlook for heterojunction (HJT) solar solutions and the types of projects that are already showcasing their potential in major regions.