South Korea

Researchers in South Korea have conducted a literature review on recorded cases of floating PV plants placed on mine pit lakes and tailings ponds, both of which are byproducts of the mining industry. Looking at more than dozens of cases, they have concluded that mine pit lakes generally provide more stable environments for deployment.

ZeroAvia says it will build a hydrogen-electric powertrain factory in Scotland to produce high-temperature proton exchange membrane (HTPEM) fuel cell systems, while Thyssenkrupp Nucera and Fraunhofer IKTS have opened the first solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) pilot plant in Germany to scale green hydrogen stack production.

South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) has kicked off a tender for 1 GW of solar and 1.25 GW of wind. The ceiling prices for solar contracts stands at KRW 157,307 ($113.6)/MWh.

A research team based at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory says that solar could have the lowest levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of all energy sources in South Korea by the early to mid-2030s. 

Qcells says its perovskite/silicon tandem solar modules have passed several independently verified stress tests. The South Korean module maker claims the results meet benchmarks for commercial acceptance of its tandem tech.

The South Korean inkjet technology company is expanding to provide inkjet printing systems for perovskite solar photovoltaic manufacturing. An investment by a corporate venture fund backed by Japan’s Epson Group is expected to help it expand the business and widen the applications of its industrial inkjet technology.

In another weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that a significant reduction in airborne pollutants has contributed to year-to-date irradiance in some parts of China being up to 30% higher than the long-term average. South Korea has benefited from a similar pattern, recording a 10% increase in irradiance from January to April relative to its long-term average.

South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) has fined eight solar operators for failing to comply with output curtailment orders and canceled licenses for 11 renewable energy projects totaling 347.4 MW. It did not say how much of the canceled capacity was solar.

South Korean researchers have fabricated a copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) solar cell with a 90 μm-thick UTG provided by South Korea’s Unique Technology Integral. The device uses a cadmium-free buffer layer made of zinc oxide and magnesium oxide, instead of cadmium sulfide.

With last year’s figures yet to include self-consumption installations, the preliminary statistics show an upward trend in installations categorized under power generation for sale. As of March this year, the country’s cumulative solar capacity was estimated at 28.15 GW.