Middle East

International researchers have developed a silicon heterojunction PV cell with textured surfaces to accommodate the perovskite top cell. They optimized the rear transparent electrode to collect as much albedo as possible and achieved five different perovskite bandgaps by altering the iodide-to-bromide ratio in the perovskites, resulting in a higher open-circuit voltage.

The tender will be open to PV projects ranging in size from 10 to 20 MW. The Turkish government has set a ceiling price of TRY0.35 ($0.047)/kWh for the procurement exercise. The selected facilities will be located across 74 grid connection points and will have to rely on locally produced modules.

Plunging regional solar tariffs reportedly prompted attempted renegotiations of agreed solar power prices with the result the kingdom made no progress towards its renewable energy goals in 2020.

Researchers in Saudi Arabia claim to have increased the efficiency of organic PV devices with diquat, a compound used in herbicide. The molecular diquat dopant increased optical absorption and the lifetime of electrical charges when light was absorbed.

The state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation has reportedly ended its involvement with the gigawatt scale Dabdaba solar field and asked the national body responsible for drumming up private sector investment to merge it with the 2 GW Shagaya renewables development.

The Israeli government assigned 608.9 MW of PV capacity through the tender and selected seven developers for 33 projects. A storage capacity of around 2,400 MWh will be linked to the selected solar power projects.

France’s EDF and China’s Jinko Power Technology have finalized financing for the 2 GW Al Dhafra PV2 project. The array will sell electricity to Emirates Water and Electricity Co. at a price of $0.0135/kWh.

Scientists in Turkey have tested a transient thermal model to predict PV module temperature during a five-day interval in June. The model considers the heat capacity of a PV module, which is usually not provided by manufacturers in their product sheets, as a parameter for temperature prediction.

Iraqi researchers have demonstrated the technical and economical feasibility of using shallow geothermal energy to cool PV systems. They tested two different techniques – a closed-loop system and an open-cycle system – to reduce power losses from 30% to up to 4.1%.

Researchers in Saudi Arabia have conducted a review of all current techniques used to calculate the monetary value of storage. They found that batteries secure the most value in providing ancillary services.