raw materials

Enormous quantities of raw materials, such as copper and aluminum cables, are required for energy system conversion when connecting renewable generators to the grid. The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE sees a huge potential for savings with higher system voltages and is planning its first pilot PV power plants with this technology.

The European Union has drawn up new regulations to boost the domestic mining of raw materials and support production of renewable energy products and materials at home. Will it be enough to incentivize investment, or will Europe trail other major economies, such as the United States and China?

Gerard Reid, co-founder of corporate finance advisory Alexa Capital, considers whether the EU is up to the task of dealing with the twin threats of the energy crisis and the pull of a revitalized US clean power industry.

Finnish startup Sensmet Oy says it has attained the lithium manufacturing ‘Holy Grail’ of real-time, continuous monitoring of the battery raw material. This would potentially unlock big savings in time and money.

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has opened a new door for US solar manufacturers, as one of the executives behind a US-Jordanian project to bring PV production to the US explains.

The European Union has set ambitious targets for solar PV expansion but is Brussels designing the right policies to support growth? Andreas Walstad investigates.

With an estimated 500 TWh of renewable electricity needed to produce the 10 million tons per year of clean hydrogen wanted by the European Union by 2030, the recent promise to ramp up European electrolyzer production capacity could give a boost to solar developers grappling with sluggish permitting regimes.

With China’s latest pandemic clampdown exacerbating existing costs for raw materials and shipping, big annual rises in solar cell and module shipments added up to a more than 91% fall in income from operations in just three months.

Be Clean Energy emphasized it was its wind power business that was the company’s 2021 success story, even though solar power sales revenue also jumped. Elsewhere, compatriot PV manufacturer Solargiga bounced back into profit last year.

The sheer volume of new power lines which will be required to accommodate the rising tide of solar installations ensures copper has been included by the International Energy Agency on its list of minerals which must keep flowing if the energy transition is to stay on course. And it’s not production that’s the potential bottleneck.