photovoltaics

Researchers in Norway have mapped all cropland areas that were abandoned between 1992 and 2015 and found that the vast majority is suitable for PV and bioenergy deployment. Around 30% is located in Asia, followed by the Americas, with a 28% share, and Africa, with a percentage of 22%. Europe and Oceania had shares of 20% and 5%, respectively.

Iraqi researchers have demonstrated the technical and economical feasibility of using shallow geothermal energy to cool PV systems. They tested two different techniques – a closed-loop system and an open-cycle system – to reduce power losses from 30% to up to 4.1%.

Solar Philippines is planning to deploy several unsubsidized solar plants in the provinces of Batangas, Cavite, Nueva Ecija, and Tarlac.

Scientists in Switzerland achieved 26.5% efficiency on a perovskite-silicon tandem cell measuring 4cm² and relying on industry-standard screen-printed metallization, further demonstrating the technology’s potential for large-scale production and low-cost electricity generation.

Australia’s largest shopping mall plans to install more than 400 solar-shaded parking bays as part of a multimillion-dollar parking lot upgrade.

Researchers in Arizona have used the Suns-VoC characterization method for indoor solar cell testing to monitor PV installations. The method can also be used with outdoor distributed-generation and large-scale solar arrays.

Solar power developers have until December 28 to bid for an aggregate 6.4 GW of grid-connected solar power capacity in Andhra Pradesh, which will be spread across 10 locations in the state. The Andhra Pradesh Green Energy Corporation will serve as the offtaker and supply the power procured from these projects to meet the demand of agricultural loads in the state.

Deli Glass announced on Monday that it would invest RMB2 billion ($303 million) in a new PV glass production facility with a daily capacity of 2,000 MT. Furthermore, a plan to transfer around 2 TWh of renewable energy power from China’s eastern provinces to Tibet was announced.

The facility is now selling power to local distributors AES, Delsur, EDESAL and B&D at an average price of $ 49.55 under a 20-year PPA.

LG Chem is spinning off its battery business into a new subsidiary, LG Energy Solution. It also launched two new battery series, Resu Prime and Resu Flex. These devices rely on new battery cells with a higher power density and with up to 16 kWh, they have a higher capacity than previous models. The first products are expected to be shipped from February or March 2021.