Public debate begins on France’s largest solar-plus-storage project
The 1 GW Horizeo project includes a solar plant, battery storage, a green hydrogen production unit, a data center, and an agrivoltaic facility. It is being planned near Saucats, a municipality in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France.
TÜV Rheinland confirms that Soltec’s algorithm increases PV plant yields by 5.3% on cloudy days
TÜV Rheinland has verified the performance of the Soltec Diffuse Booster algorithm, which uses both sensors and weather forecasts to drive its solar trackers. According to the manufacturer, it can increase the annual revenue of a 100 MW PV plant in Spain by €1.8 million.
Coupling PV-powered electrochemical water splitting with battery storage
A German research team has developed a photovoltaic-electrochemical device for alkaline water electrolysis that can be linked to battery storage. The proposed system configuration can not only smoothen out the PV power fluctuations and facilitate power coupling, but also improve solar to hydrogen efficiency.
Mini perovskite solar module with 19.2% efficiency via new additive
The efficiency of the module was certified by the U.S.’ National Renewable Energy Laboratory. It was built with perovskite solar cells with a stabilized efficiency of 23.6%, an open-circuit voltage of 1.17 V, a short-circuit current density of 24.1 mA per cm−2, and a fill factor of 0.842.
Green roof improves solar panel efficiency by 3.6% on average
The comparison of two solar cladded roofs in Sydney, Australia, one bare beneath its panels and the other adorned with native grasses and plants, has found the panels on the green roof were, on average, 3.63% more efficient, producing an average daily output 13% greater than the conventional roof. The improvements are believed to stem from the lower temperatures on the green roof, thanks to its plants – which also provided a plethora of additional benefits.
Sixty-three PV projects to compete in South Africa’s 2.6 GW renewables tender
The South African authorities have published the list of projects competing in the the fifth round of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Program (REIPPPP). It seeks to procure 1 GW of PV and 1.6 GW of wind power.
Dubai has 298.7 MW under net metering
Most of the generation capacity – around 190 MW – was deployed in the emirate between September 2019 and March 2021.
Air source heat pumps raise home prices
According to a recent study, installing an air source heat pump may increase a home’s value by up to 7.1% in 23 states of the United States. The price premium is estimated at between $10,400 and $17,000 per transaction and the average cost for installing an air source heat pump is around $8,000.
NTPC commissions India’s largest floating solar project
The state-run energy company has commissioned a 25 MW plant on the reservoir at its Simhadri thermal power station, in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The installation features more than 100,000 solar modules.
Chinese PV Industry Brief: Longi raises PV wafer prices, new entrant switches on 15 GW of wafer capacity
GokinSolar has commissioned the first 15 GW unit of its 50 GW PV wafer manufacturing facility in Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province and Golden Solar New Energy Technology last week announced commercial production plans for the flexible, lightweight, cast-mono, heterojuntion (HJT) solar modules. Meanwhile, Longi has raised the prices of its wafers.
