desertification

Once thought of in a niche sense, the solar-water nexus is a rapidly expanding network of applications. They include practical tools capable of solving persistent issues like water scarcity, as well as newly pressing issues like overcoming the water challenge of green hydrogen production. Blake Matich looks at such applications here in Australia and abroad.

KilowattSol CEO Xavier Daval has criticized the absence of references to solar in the French government’s post-Covid recovery plan, which has allocated €30 billion to the energy transition. The head of the PV technical advisory says solar must become more central to France’s strategic choices and China must not be allowed to retain its near-monopoly on PV panel manufacturing.

Take-up has been slow considering the nation’s mammoth agricultural industry but, as a packed session on the topic at the recent Renewable Energy India show illustrated, attitudes may be changing in a nation which is already installing solar greenhouses.

A memorandum of understanding signed by the institutions was not solar specific but the use of PV modules for shading, especially in agriculture, can reduce water consumption and help halt the expansion of deserts.