Solar panels host microbes that may be used for biotech applications
Scientists in Brazil have found that photovoltaic modules may be a repository of specialized microbes in tropical regions. According to them, these micro-organisms may be used in sunscreens, pigments for processed foods, chemicals, textiles, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics.
PV module import prices up by 20% in Brazil since last December
Brazilian consultancy Greener reports that monocrystalline PERC modules are currently being sold at an average price of $0.24/W in the Brazilian PV market, but prices may keep rising, possibly into 2022.
Solar Power Mexico ready to take off
Mexico’s largest solar event will take place from 9 to 11 November in Mexico City. The organizers presented the conference program in an online press conference.
Solar job numbers kept on rising in 2020
The latest edition of a clean power jobs survey produced by IRENA and the International Labour Organization has stressed the important role which will need to be played by the public sector if the energy transition’s employment benefits are to be shared equally.
Colombia’s renewables auction assigns 796 MW of solar at average price of $0.041/kWh
Among the selected developers were EDF, Canadian Solar, Solarpack, Enel and Celsia. The final average price for the PV technology was significantly higher than that of the previous procurement exercise.
Colombia’s largest PV plant comes online
The 61 MW solar facility is owned by Colombian oil company Ecopetrol.
Maxeon refurbishes Mexican factory to set up 1.8 GW module manufacturing hub for US market
The Singapore-based manufacturer operates two factories in the Baja California state bordering the United States and the entire output of the facility in Mexicali will be shipped exclusively to the US market. Furthermore, the company’s chief revenue officer, Mark Babcock, told pv magazine that a manufacturing facility is also being considered in the US.
Solar secures 236 MW of capacity in Brazil’s A5 auction, with average price of $0.03109/kWh
The Brazilian authorities have allocated 860 MW of power capacity in the country’s latest procurement exercise, including 20 solar projects.
GCL accepts it has lost 865 million shares in its solar project business
An investigation into the financier which promised to lend the polysilicon company’s solar project development arm $60 million two years ago, has turned up nothing more than an address in St Kitts and Nevis and allegations of fraud against one of its key personnel.
Panama could install 1.7 GW of distributed-gen PV by 2030
The government of Panama has outlined a new strategy for distributed-generation PV. The Central American country currently has an installed distributed-generation solar capacity of 46.63 MW.
