Colored facade solar panels with 13.8% efficiency
Dutch startup Solarix has developed a new line of facade solar panels featuring 13.8% efficiency and output ranging from 110 to 180 W, depending on the module size and color. The panels can be bolted or glued onto aluminum mounting systems applied to facades.
Italian grid operator awards 250 MW of storage in pilot auction
Terna’s first auction for reserve storage capacity was largely oversubscribed, with over 1,327 MW of submitted projects. Overall, 23 projects were assigned to 17 operators.
End of subsidies could fuel the corporate PPA boom in Europe
Pioneering solar projects which signed ten-year feed-in tariff agreements will soon need to operate free of subsidy and with local authorities like the City of London starting to embrace direct contracts with renewables generators, the PPA market could be set for another turbo charge.
100 MW solar park comes online in eastern central Europe
The solar plant is located in Kaposvàr, southwest Hungary, and will sell power at €0.09/kWh under the country’s feed-in tariff regime.
Focus on stability as tandem cells approach 30% efficiency
The Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin set a world record for perovskite-silicon tandem cell efficiency last year at 29.15%. The group has delved further into the cell materials, looking to better understand mechanisms behind the impressive efficiencies achieved so far. Their latest work shows that with the current cell design, long term stability at efficiencies up to 32.4% should be possible.
UK installs 5 MW ultracapacitor as ‘sonar’ to detect power grid inertia
Electricity system operator National Grid is planning for a fully decarbonized power network in five years. Following a power outage last year, the operator has taken a pioneering role in finding solutions to the issues of running a grid using only power-electronics-interfaced resources. One key aspect of grid stability, inertia, can be detected using an ultracapacitor.
Kazakhstan’s solar auctions conclude with lowest price of $0.035/kWh
The Kazakh authorities allocated 55 MW of PV capacity in two different procurement exercises. Two projects, totaling 40 MW, were secured by Russian module manufacturer Hevel Solar.
Spain to hold 3 GW renewables auction on January 26
Through the procurement exercise, the Spanish government wants to allocate 1 GW of PV, 1 GW of wind and another gigawatt of renewable energy capacity with storage.
Maxeon brings its AC module with power of up to 415 W to Europe
Authorized Sunpower distributors and installers in Germany, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta, and the Netherlands are now offering the Maxeon 5 AC module for rooftop projects. An Enphase microinverter is already integrated into the product.
Semi-transparent dye-sensitized solar module with 8.7% efficiency
The mini-panel showed a short circuit current of 58.1 mA, an open circuit voltage of 3.63 V, and a fill factor of 58.26%. It has a power output is 122.9 mW and an active area of 14 cm2.
