Indian salt producer tenders 1 GW of solar
State-owned Hindustan Salts Ltd. has invited bids to build and operate 1 GW of solar capacity on 5,000 acres of disused land in the Indian state of Gujarat. The developer will pay Hindustan Salts a fixed annual rental fee for the land. Bidding closes on May 25.
New water-draining device for rooftop PV systems
Portuguese startup Solarud has developed a way to eliminate soiling around the frames of PV panels with low inclination slopes. The device drains water that would otherwise stay stagnant on the surface of modules.
Fortescue provides backing for Dutch PV module maker
Fortescue Future Industries continues to advance its green energy ambitions, announcing it will provide new funding for Dutch solar PV module maker HyET Solar, in a move designed to accelerate a planned expansion of the company’s manufacturing plant in the Netherlands.
Heterojunction design for 29.68% tin sulfide solar cell
Bangladeshi researchers have designed a simulated solar cell with a hole transport layer based on copper oxide and a tin sulfide absorber. It is expected to achieve an open-circuit voltage of 1.01 V, a short-circuit current of 34.19 mA/cm2, and a fill factor of 85.74%.
France publishes second-quarter FITs for PV systems up to 500 kW
France has increased feed-in tariffs for all PV system categories, ranging from €181.40 ($190.90)/MWh for installations below 3 kW in size to €96.90/MWh for arrays ranging in capacity from 36 kW to 100 kW.
Belgium’s Flanders region allocates 57.2 MW of PV in fourth renewables auction
Belgium’s latest renewables procurement exercise resulted in final prices for PV that ranged from €0.03 ($0.0316)/kWh to €0.06/kWh.
India’s NTPC tenders 250 MW/500 MWh energy storage project
A unit of India’s NTPC has opened global bids to develop 250 MW/500 MWh of battery energy storage capacity in the Indian state of Rajasthan. The proposed plants will need to have enough capacity to store two hours of electricity. Bidding closes on June 6.
Floating PV for unused swimming pools
Ciel & Terre Japan has deployed a floating solar plant on the swimming pool of a school on the Japanese island of Kyushu. Local developer ELM says the project could be extended to more than 6,000 facilities across the country.
US lab reveals top findings for hybrid solar, storage plants
US government researchers have collected 10 observations from recent research papers that look at solar- or wind-plus-storage power plants in the United States.
PV-powered portable seawater desalination system for drinking water
US researchers have developed a portable desalination unit that generates clean drinking water without filters or high-pressure pumps. The device is powered exclusively by solar energy and requires just 20 W of power per liter.
