PV. photovoltaic

A research team from Russia’s institutes NUST MISIS and IPCE RAS, and Italy’s University of Rome Tor Vergata, have applied an additional layer of p-type copper iodide semiconductor between perovskite and the hole-transport NiO layer of the cell. According to the scientists, this inorganic material is more accessible and easy-to-use.

Although the Italian PV industry only posted a slight increase compared to the first quarter of the previous two years, the market has continued to grow at an average of around 30 MW per month over the past five years, while still being driven by rooftop solar. More growth is expected from the PPA segment and upcoming auctions. The European Commission still needs to approve a decree regulating the country’s procurement scheme, however.

The acquired company owns more than 1 GW of solar capacity, including operational large-scale plants and projects still under development. The financial terms of the deal remain undisclosed.

Dubai’s residential sector is set to experience a lift this year thanks to plans to install solar rooftops on 10% of the emirate’s homes. The DEWA-funded rooftop program was launched under the Shams Dubai initiative, which offers net-metering for small-scale solar.

Electricité du Cambodge has launched an international tender to procure a solar project in Kampong Chhnang province, on a build-own-operate basis. The project is the initial phase of the 100 MW National Solar Park, which is being supported by the Asian Development Bank.

The Canadian company is planning to build a 20 MW hybrid diesel-solar power plant at the Madaouela mining site near Arlit, in northern central Niger. The project will be developed by Canadian independent power producer Windiga Energy.

The Saudi oil company has started manufacturing activities at its $40 million facility in the Hail Industrial City. The factory is being run by the group’s unit, Saudi Specialized Products Company (SSPC).

The French government has devised three possible scenarios for the planned phasing out of part of its nuclear power generation assets. Even under the most optimistic scenario, the target to reduce the share of nuclear power from around 75% to 50% by 2025, which had been set by the previous government, will only be reached in 2035. The most pessimistic scenario envisages the construction of four new nuclear reactors by 2040.

The Dubai Water and Electricity Authority (DEWA) has announced it will expand Phase IV of the 5 GW Mohammed bin Rashid Maktoum Solar Park by another 250 MW. The power utility has also revealed that the PPA with the project developer, local energy giant ACWA Power has been amended, and that the new PV portion of Phase IV, which originally included only a 700 MW CSP power plant planned to sell power at $0.073/kWh, will sell power at a tariff of $0.024/kWh. This price equals that of a 1.17 GW solar project currently under construction in Abu Dhabi.

The Mexican gas and electricity provider will sell solar power to Canadian multinational bank Novascotia under a 15-year PPA. The electricity will be provided by the solar plant portfolio the company is developing in the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California.