Asia

China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) says the nation installed 142.5 GW of solar in the first 10 months of this year, bringing it to nearly 540 GW of cumulative installed PV capacity by the end of October.

Scientists in India have developed a novel way to predict soiling accumulation on bifacial modules. Their approach considers dust deposition, rebound, and resuspension phenomena.

Intended for applications in commercial buildings, the new VRV 5 heat pumps have reportedly a 9.1% higher seasonal efficiency compared to the company’s previous models. The new products use difluoromethane (R32) as the refrigerant.

Tongwei has developed the G12 TOPcon solar module series, with efficiency ratings up to 23.1% and a temperature coefficient of -0.30% per degree Celsius.

Chinese manufacturer Dyness has unveiled a 1.6 kWh battery designed for balcony PV systems, allowing users to stack up to four units for a total storage capacity of 6.4 kWh, with a reported lifespan of more than 8,000 cycles.

EnergyTrend recorded a 1.85% to 2.68% decline in passivation emitter rear contact cell (PERC) solar module prices in China last week.

Achieved by scientists led by the National University of Singapore, the result is the highest efficiency ever recorded for a perovskite-CIS tandem solar cell at the research level to date. The researchers used methyldiammonium diiodide (MDADI) to reduce open-circuit voltage losses in the top perovskite cell.

The Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) says in a new report that residential rooftops in India could accommodate 637 GW of solar capacity.

Fenice Energy, formerly SunEdison, has developed single-phase and three-phase microinverters for residential and commercial solar installations. The microinverters support up to 670 Wp+ PV modules, with a maximum input current of 20 A.

First Solar and its cadmium telluride (CdTe) technology dominate thin-film solar in the mainstream market. Valerie Thompson looks at the US-based business and the future of thin-film PV technology.