Northern Africa

Dubai-based AMEA Power has signed concession and power purchase agreements (PPA) with the Tunisian government for its 120 MW solar project in Metbassta, northern Tunisia.

Moroccan researchers have investigated the potential energy savings of PV systems integrated with biomaterial-based walls in rural areas. They say that solar-powered earth homes could achieve a levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of $0.218/kWh.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, explains that the climatology of Africa leads to very different seasonal generation patterns from what European solar producers experience. Data analysed by Solcast, via the Solcast API, shows this seasonal variance from summer to winter in 2023.

In its latestt monthly column for pv magazine, the International Renewable Energy Agency explains that, in order to realize Africa’s vast potential, we must ensure there is adequate investment and infrastructure development to support renewable energy. In the coming years, this means urgently overcoming the structural barriers across three priorities: infrastructure, policy, and institutional capabilities.

The novel algorithm is based on the behavior of marine animal tunicates and reportedly provides remarkable results in terms of power errors. It was tested in four PV system configurations with five different shade patterns.

Developed by Egyptian scientists, the PV-powered water pumping system may produce up to 181.8 m3 of water per day. The system consists of two PV arrays with each a capacity of 4.6 kW and a pumping unit made up of a 7.5 kW three-phase alternating current motor, a multistage submersible pump, a deep well, and a 15 kW inverter.

An Algerian research group has analyzed the electronic, elastic, optical, and thermoelectric characteristics of the KGeCl3 perovskite to verify if this lead-free material may be used for solar cells and other electronic devices. The scientists found that the novel material has a direct bandgap semiconductor with bandgap energies of 0.92 eV, 1.26 eV, and 1.88 eV for cubic, tetragonal, and orthorhombic phases, respectively.

IEA-PVPS has published a new handbook that provides support for Technological Innovation System (TIS) analysis for building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV).

French researchers have identified a number of potential social issues that may arise as North Africa develops its significant hydrogen potential, while the European Commission has released the details of its pilot auction for European renewable hydrogen production.

With an overall investment cost of US$182 million, the Kom Ombo plant is expected to be commercially operational in January 2024.