Canada

The solar manufacturer’s impressive third-quarter gross margin is set to fall back in the current three-month window because global shortages have seen some material costs double since the world came out of Covid-19 shock.

A new study has assessed the geological feasibility of large-scale seasonal underground hydrogen storage in Canada and has found that the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin and southern Ontario are the most suitable areas for the technology.

Scientists led by the University of Ontario modeled the performance of bifacial modules in floating PV applications, finding that in a north/south orientation at a 30 degree angle, the modules could receive as much as 55% more sunlight than a monofacial module in the same setup.

New cadmium telluride solar panels are now available for applications on tall buildings in urban environments. Their efficiency ranges from 15.3% to 18.2%, with 110 W to 450 W of power output.

The quiet prairie landscape of Vulcan County, a rural stretch of southern Alberta, is set to become the site of Canada’s largest solar energy facility – the 400 MW Travers Solar Project. And with the region’s oil industry struggling with low demand and lower prices, solar could provide a lifeline to Alberta in meeting energy demand and providing jobs.

More than 1 GW of subsidized small solar arrays were installed in China last month alone and manufacturer Suntech has announced the start of operations at its 500 MW Indonesian cell and module fab.

Californian solar module manufacturer Solaria Corporation has asked the U.S. International Trade Commission to issue an exclusion order to prevent the sale in the United States of Canadian Solar shingled solar modules it claims infringe its patents.

Analysts at Bloomberg New Energy Finance have quantified the influence of markets around the world. The ranking supplies a snapshot of 25 countries and also offers a five-year outlook.

Module manufacturer Trina Solar has completed the acquisition of the Spanish tracker company, inverter maker Sungrow has secured contracts from Three Gorges New Energy and Akcome Technologies has completed construction of its heterojunction cell and module factory.

An international group of scientists has discovered a ‘space charge’ mechanism that explains why certain metal oxides used as electrodes in lithium-ion batteries exhibit higher storage capacities than should be theoretically possible. The research, according to the group, will unlock new pathways to the development of more advanced energy storage systems.