A good year for solar: Agrivoltaics in vineyards
French agricultural PV specialist Sun’Agri has revealed the results of tests run on a solar plant integrated with viticulture. During heat waves, the company said, vines shaded by solar panels continued to grow and needed less water.
Module manufacturer responds to rumors of panel failures at 75 MW South African project
Reports of module under-performance at the Mulilo Sonnedix Prieska solar project have prompted a response from South African company Artsolar, one of the module suppliers for the plant. The project is said to be experiencing serious problems due to premature module degradation. Divian Govendar, CEO of Johannesburg-based Artsolar, said the company has not been required to replace any modules at the site.
French energy giants EDF and Total bet on artificial intelligence
The fossil fuel companies plus electrical systems business Thales have launched a joint research laboratory in Paris-Saclay to develop AI technologies to meet the needs of critical systems such as energy production facilities.
Solar-plus-storage will start to make big inroads in the year ahead
By this time next year we may be able to wave goodbye to that old chestnut about renewables endangering security of supply. Elsewhere, the price of lithium – and the products it goes into – could go either way after tanking this year.
AI selecting best solar perovskites
A U.S. research team has used machine learning to optimize material composition and predict the design strategies and performance of perovskite solar cells. The researchers analyzed 2,000 peer-reviewed perovskite publications and collected more than 300 data points.
Reducing total harmonic distortion with adaptive filters
A Malaysian study has compared the techniques used to reduce total harmonic distortion caused by PV systems. The paper, which considers the benefits and drawbacks of the approaches studied, suggests the use of adaptive filters.
Moixa reaches 100 MWh of virtual power plant capacity in Japan
The company says its network is the largest fleet of batteries under virtual power plant management worldwide.
Tesla-based battery project launched in Slovenia
New company NGEN appears to have introduced the Powerpack battery to central Europe in a €15 million, 12.6 MW/22.6 MWh project in the northwest of the country which is the first of two planned utility scale systems due for completion by July.
Total expands solar business in Asia
The French oil giant and China’s Envision Group are forming a joint venture offering PV systems combined with energy management solutions. Total Eren is also involved in a 100 MW solar project in Uzbekistan.
New methods for fault detection revealed at EU PVSEC
Quality control and problem detection and classification was brought into focus at the conference in Marseille. A packed house at a session focused on the latest fault detection techniques indicated the high level of interest in the field.
