United Kingdom

The Chinese-Canadian module manufacturer will supply panels to the U.K.-based developer over several years. The modules are destined for projects in the United States and Australia.

Product development company the Cambridge Design Partnership, working with compatriot solar business Solivus, has developed a curved solar module featuring an organic thin film. The design is based on Solivus’ desire to “create a product so attractive that people would be happy to have one in their garden”.

The English company says its modular solutions are due to undergo flight testing in the U.S. and are ‘three to five years’ from commercial production for aircraft.

The country’s cumulative capacity reached reached 13.35 GW at the end of 2019. The statistics also show that 2019 may have been the slowest year for the UK solar industry since 2010. According to the UK Solar Trade Association, however, the official figures released by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strateg are based on incomplete datasets and growth, particularly for PV systems above 50 kW in size, should be stronger.

UK researchers claim to have proved the viability of wearable photovoltaic devices as an integrated part of regular clothing. A solar-powered fabric textile was created by embedding micro-crystalline silicon solar cells within the fibers of a textile through thin copper wires. The scientists claim that the device can maintain its performance even after 15 domestic machine cycles, 25 hand wash cycles, and 6000 abrasion cycles.

The scale of fossil fuel deals signed between African governments and U.K. oil and gas interests reportedly amounted to more than 11 times the volume of renewable energy commitments as Britain scrambles for post-Brexit financial opportunities.

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.

Fire safety engineering researchers have demonstrated increasing the gap between the modules of commercial PV arrays and flat roof surfaces is a decisive factor in reducing fire risks. Experiments have identified a critical gap height below which flame spread rate increases significantly.

The company will provide two 50 MW systems for investor the Gore Street Energy Storage Fund and project developer Low Carbon. The projects will be completed by the first quarter of 2021.

A research team from the University of Huddersfield used electron microscopy to analyze micro-cracks in 4,000 polycrystalline silicon solar cell samples. The results showed power losses may vary from 0.9-42.8%, and increased temperatures due to micro-cracking may favor the formation of permanent hot spots in the cells.