Middle East

The one-off charge for PV systems with generation capacities of 10-100 kW will be almost halved. The fee levied on 100 kW-1 MW arrays will come down by 1-30.7%, depending on system size.

The solar giant shipped 14.2 GW of modules last year, up 33% on 2018 for the high-water mark of another year dominated by Chinese manufacturers.

Saudi researchers have developed a cell which is said to exhibit improved structural and optoelectronic properties as well as enhanced carrier mobility and diffusion lengths. The feat was achieved by reducing voltage losses using a new passivation technique.

Financial newspaper Globes has reported the tender, launched only three weeks ago, is being opposed by the country’s Land Authority, which claims the project could interfere with sand-mining near Dimona.

A 2MW pilot project is now being developed in the Governorate of Duhok. The project was funded with $2 million by the European Union.

Illegally re-badged panels were sold on to Senegal, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Morocco, Mauritania, Turkey and even Syria. Italian authorities found 60 tons of panels which will be examined.

Saudi researchers claim to have improved the thermal stability and moisture resistance of such devices by replacing 3D hybrid perovskite with two-dimensional compounds. They used organic compound ethanolamine, which is said to provide better results in slowing down the hot-carrier cooling process.

The government wants a 300 MW solar plant linked to large scale storage in the Negev desert. Construction is planned for late 2021 and completion in 2023.

Utility Kahramaa has revealed the winning consortium initially offered $0.01745/kWh with the price then reduced based on financial market indices.

A list compiled by a British price comparison website draws upon data from German company Statista which shows clean energy – including hydro – made up 12.74% of the nation’s power mix at the end of September.