photovoltaics

The South African authorities awarded project agreements to two wind-solar-storage hybrid projects that were selected in a 2 GW tech-neutral tender held under the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP) in 2021.

The European Solar Manufacturing Council (ESMC) is urging the European Union to adopt legislation against forced labor in the PV industry, by explicitly calling for measures to prevent solar products produced with forced labor from entering the European market.

Swiss scientists claim no distribution grid expansion is needed to increase the share of solar PV in energy systems, but they warn that priority dispatch for PV during peak loads may become a serious issue in the years to come. Among a range of recommendations, they proposed reducing peak loads by developing grid-serving behavior with PV system owners having to do their part.

The rise of cost-effective TOPCon cell technology last year led to a ‘surge’ in production demand for solar n-type cell technology, with leading industry analysts TrendForce prophesying PERC cell capacities ‘may’ be phased out in two to three years. The company’s experts, however, warn that oversupply for p-type cells and modules may increase the price gap between n-type and p-type products in the upcoming months.

At a recent automobile industry event, Germany-based Webasto announced its retractable vehicle integrated PV system for car-roofs was integrated into a new electric sports utility vehicle (SUV) by an undisclosed US equipment manufacturer.

Q Energy says it will deploy a 74.3 MW floating PV array in northwestern France. The project should take around 18 months to complete, with commissioning scheduled for 2025.

New research from the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) focuses on a specific model that uses data to reduce the frequency of unscheduled maintenance, while increasing the frequency of preventive maintenance.

A Brazilian research group has developed a new method that uses the unique properties of supercritical water to recycle end-of-life solar panels. The scientists claim the novel approach is able to achieve a 99.6% organic degradation, without using toxic or hazardous chemicals.

Electra Power, an Israeli energy supplier, is now in negotiations to sell its PV operations for up to $7.88 million. Last year, it reported an operational capacity of 4.7 MW and a project backlog of 25 MW.

Dutch thin film silicon manufacturer, Hyet Solar, has raised €29 million ($31 million) with Invest-NL contributong €14.5 million of venture debt financing in the round. The company will use the funds to deploy a 40 MW production line at its facility in Arnhem, Netherlands.