Techno-economic analysis of PV-powered golf carts
Danish researchers have shown that adding 250 W solar panels to all of the buggies in a 50-cart fleet is a profitable investment. With an upfront investment of around €75,000, annual benefits of around €15,000 are possible, they claim.
Belgian school selling solar power to neighbors
Belgium is testing its first energy community by giving special status to a solar energy pilot near Brussels. The project will help to create a large-scale legal framework to apply the European Directives to energy communities.
German floating PV plant works better than expected
The volume of solar electricity generated and proportion of self-consumption at the Lake Maiwald floating plant have both surpassed expectations. Gravel company Ossola has been able to reduce its electricity bill 10% as a result.
Aerosols affect photovoltaic generation in Europe
The German meteorological service, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and solar forecaster Meteocontrol are investigating how weather events can be better factored in when forecasting solar power generation. The Federal Ministry of Economics is funding the ‘Permastrom’ research project with €2.5 million.
Rooftop solar window based on semi-transparent perovskite solar cells
A prototype of an energy-harvesting, solar-powered smart window device has been developed by scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory. The window was created by integrating a semi-transparent perovskite solar cell and a multi-layer nanophotonic coating.
New alliance aims to break 600 W threshold
Chinese manufacturers including Trina Solar, Risen Energy and JA Solar have established a group to design and produce bigger PV modules. The 39-member alliance also includes inverter suppliers including Huawei, Sungrow and SMA.
Israel’s solar-plus-storage tender concludes with final price of $0.0578/kWh
The government assigned 168 MW of capacity through the tender and selected three developers for 11 projects, with capacities of 100 MW, 48 MW and 20 MW.
Water-free module cleaner for residential PV systems
A newly developed autonomous robotic cleaning solution for modules uses artificial intelligence to clean daily or on demand, without substantial human input.
The world’s sunniest PV testing field
French energy giant Engie recently commissioned a solar module testing facility in Chile’s Atacama Desert, a region which has the world’s highest solar radiation. Thore Müller – head of bifacial PV R&D and solar services at Engie Laborelec, talked to pv magazineabout the advantages of testing panels, inverters and cleaning systems in hot, arid environments.
Spain moves forward with new renewables auctions
The Council of Ministers has urgently approved royal decrees to regulate the clean energy procurement rounds and procedures for the grid connection of large scale projects.
