PV plant

PV developers have launched, resumed and completed several large-scale solar projects in Latin America in recent weeks, including two Enel installations in Chile and Colombia.

Researchers led by the University of Rochester claim to have increased the photoresponsivity of a lead-halide perovskite for solar cell applications by 250%. They created a perovskite film with a plasmonic substrate made of hyperbolic metamaterial and characterized it with transition dipole orientation.

An international research group has developed a new Aalborg inverter design for high-power applications in solar arrays. The device has fewer switches than conventional, voltage-source inverters and can reportedly improve PV system performance by reducing switching losses.

Component cost declines, local manufacturing and distributed energy are the three big trends for the renewable energy sector this year, according to S&P Global.

The Dutch heat pump market grew by 57% in 2022, with 70,000 heat pumps installed in new buildings and 40,000 in existing homes. The Dutch Heat Pump Association (DHPA) now wants to focus on investing in solar-thermal heat pumps and bringing the technology to low-income households.

Japan’s National Institute of Technology and Evaluation (NITE) says in a new report that snow has damaged 43 PV installations of different sizes over the past four years. It urges PV system owners to conduct regular site inspections, use surveillance cameras, and remove snow at early stages.

Lightleaf’s new 110 W PV module features monocrystalline solar cells from SunPower Maxeon, with 25.1% efficiency. It has a rigid carbon-fiber foam foundation instead of glass, and weighs just 2.5 kg.

Italian researchers have reviewed different system configurations for photovoltaic-thermal solar-assisted heat pumps in buildings. They say that using the PV-thermal collector as the heat pump’s evaporator results in the highest heat recovery, but a dual-source system with a separate heat exchanger is the most promising solution to cover all thermal needs.

TrendForce says solar demand could grow by more than 53.4% this year due to lower module prices and delayed projects from 2021 and 2022 that are now going online. China will be the largest market this year with 148.9 GW, followed by the United States with 40.5 GW, India with 17.2 GW, Brazil with 14.2 GW, Germany with 11.8 GW, Spain with 11.4 GW, and Japan with 8 GW.

PVH has confirmed that it will build a new manufacturing facility in Valencia, Spain. The factory will raise its global tracker production capacity to 25 GW.