North America

CSI Solar, a Canadian Solar subsidiary, is increasing its manufacturing capacity in 2024 by adding significantly more ingots, wafers, cells and modules, in order to meet strong market demand and accelerate growth.

A team of US researchers engineered a double-membrane system to minimize chloride oxidizing the anode. Meanwhile, the Spanish government supports Destinus to develop its hydrogen-powered supersonic plane and test it in 2024.

US scientists have looked at how aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) could be used to store wind and solar power, while catering to heating and cooling energy demand during extreme hot or cold periods. They modeled a distributed energy system for a neighborhood in Chicago and found that ATES could reduce consumption of petroleum products by up to 40% at a slightly higher cost than other forms of storage.

Chirag Nakrani, the director of Rayzon Solar, told pv magazine that the company’s 500 MW PV module factory in the United States will start producing TOPCon solar modules by June 2024.

The US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and First Solar have used cracked film lithography (CFL) to build a bifacial cadmium telluride solar cell with a power density of 20.3 mW cm−2. They claim the cell has a higher bifacial power density than any polycrystalline absorber currently manufactured at scale.

The government of Canada announced it is now accepting applications for its Oil to Heat Pump Affordability Program. Eligible low-to-middle-income Canadian households currently heating their homes with oil can apply for an upfront payment of up to CAD 10,000 ($7,413) toward purchasing and installing a new, electric, air-source cold climate heat pump.

Sarcos has designed a robotic PV construction solution that delivers, detects, lifts, and places PV modules in large-scale solar plants. It has recently field tested and validated the prototype solution in a pilot project funded by the US Department of Energy.

The US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has unveiled a tool that surveys how changes in costs, battery adoption scenarios, and international actions affect long-term trends in the battery supply chain.

Tesla has revealed plans to build a new Megapack battery factory in Shanghai, according to the Xinhua news agency.

Cannabis prohibition drove a culture of clandestine production in the past and solar helped growers to cultivate it at remote, off-grid sites. Now, as a global commercial cannabis market emerges, solar has an even bigger role to play.