Middle East

Scientists in the Middle East have simulated the use of different building-integrated PV systems on Dubai’s high-rise buildings. They found that for buildings with more than seven floors, BIPV may be superior to rooftop power generation.

Bahrain has launched a 100 MW solar tender. The authorities aim to build a PV plant in the Al Dur area of the nation’s Southern Governorate through the procurement exercise, which is being conducted by the Electricity and Water Authority (EWA).

Saudi Power Procurement Co. (SPPC) has announced the selected bidders for the the fifth round of the Saudi Arabian government’s renewable energy tender program.

Scientists have proposed to use PV energy and heat pump-driven HVAC system in greenhouses conceived to grow tomatoes in the Mediterranean area. The system was found to have a payback time of only 2.9 years in southern Spain.

Scientists from Pakistan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have conceived a new experimental setup to conduct hail impact tests for photovoltaic modules. The first tests showed that monocrystalline panels lose less efficiency than their polycrystalline counterparts with the same number of busbars.

Tripling clean energy generation capacity to 11 TW by 2030 was a leading pledge from the United Nations’ (UN) climate change conference in Dubai. With few details about infrastructure and energy storage and no clear PV targets, however, it is hard to judge the effectiveness of the 28th global Conference of the Parties (COP) meeting. Angela Skujins considers possible impacts for the solar industry.

The Transmission System Operator of Cyprus (TSOC) predicts that transmission and distribution grid operators will need to curtail 28% of the nation’s annual green energy production in 2024.

The novel solar cell uses antimony trisulfide (Sb2S3) as the back surface field (BSF) layer. According to its creators, this layer can be included in conventional CIGS solar cells to improve their efficiency and reduce the absorber material’s cost.

Saudi Arabia has laid out an ambitious vision to establish itself as a renewable energy hub for the Middle East and beyond. The market is growing rapidly, with solar generation capacity more than tripling in 2023. But obstacles remain for the Kingdom to continue on this PV pathway, and these challenges were up for discussion this week in Riyadh at the SunRise Arabia conference, organized by Solarabic and pv magazine.

Developed by an international research group, the novel anti-reflective coating is based on silicon dioxide and zirconium dioxide. It reportedly minimizes a solar cell’s reflection loss, while enhancing its light absorption properties.