photovoltaics

South Korean researchers have developed a long-term solar irradiance prediction method based on a reinforcement learning algorithm. They claim that the new model is able to forecast solar radiation for more than a year using just two weeks of solar radiation learning.

Toledo Solar and First Solar have reached an agreement in their lawsuit, but details of the settlement remain confidential. Toledo Solar has also revealed the formation of a new investor-led independent board of directors and leadership team.

The Italian authorities have allocated 58 MW of renewables capacity in the nation’s latest procurement exercise for clean energy. Developers have offered a maximum discount ranging between 2% and 2.1% from the auction ceiling price of €0.065 ($0.068)/kWh.

A French-Spanish research team developed organic photovoltaic modules embedded into plastic parts through high throughput injection molding. The researchers injected thermoplastic polyurethane in the modules and found it enhances their mechanical stability while keeping a high flexibility.

Bangladesh has approved tariffs of $0.10/kWh for 370 MW of solar at three sites, ranging in size from 70 MW to 200 MW, as the government seeks to expand its generating capacity. The country also has a 1.2 GW pipeline of solar projects under construction.

Encouraged by lab results and a feasibility study, Swedish startup, Green14, in collaboration with Sweden’s Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) plans to build a pilot-scale reactor to make solar grade silicon with a hydrogen plasma process. The company sees the pilot as a step towards using a more sustainable method to produce solar grade silicon for the PV industry at its own gigawatt-scale plant.

SolarPower Europe’s board members have issued a joint statement calling for three measures to safeguard the European solar industry, as they claim that tariffs and trade barriers are not viable solutions.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers have developed a solar desalinator with high water output, via a multi-stage system of evaporators and condensers. It offers cost-effective solar desalination, making solar-produced drinking water cheaper than tap water for the first time.

A research team in Bangladesh has simulated a perovskite-CIGS PV device that can reportedly achieve a remarkable tandem cell voltage of 2.48 V. The proposed method is also applicable for tandem cells composed of other materials.

‘It is a project that stands as an example of energy transition,’ Duarte Bello, CEO of EDP Renewables’ Europe and Latin America operations told pv magazine. The new 200 MW solar PV plant is now generating energy on a former brown open-pit lignite site.