Midsummer secures funding for 200 MW Swedish solar factory
Swedish thin-film solar manufacturer Midsummer inked a deal with the European Union Innovation Fund grant to receive €32.3 million ($34.8 million) to pay for a third of the company’s soon-to-be-built copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) solar module production facility in Sweden.
India’s SECI launches tender for 400 MW of solar modules
Solar Energy Corp. of India Ltd. (SECI) has started accepting bids to supply 400 MW of domestically manufactured solar modules built with made-in-India cells. The modules must be rated a minimum of 540 W each. Bidding ends on Dec. 23.
Reducing PV module temperature with beeswax, paraffin wax
Scientists in Iraq have applied two different kinds of phase-change materials to lower the operating temperatures of PV panels. Their experiment showed that beeswax and paraffin wax are particularly effective in achieving this goal, even when they are combined together.
Sharp unveils 575 W TOPCon solar panel with 22.26% efficiency
Sharp’s new IEC61215- and IEC61730-certified solar panels have an operating temperature coefficient of -0.30% per C and a bifaciality factor of over 80%.
Inverted perovskite-organic tandem solar cell achieves 23.07% efficiency via metal ion-doped absorber
A group of scientists in Korea has a hot-air technique instead of atomic layer deposition to fabricate a perovskite absorber that reportedly shows a higher film quality. They applied this film in a perovskite-organic tandem solar cell, which exhibited low open-circuit voltage losses and high efficiency levels.
Up to 1,150 families sign up for UK heat pump scheme
The UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero says the latest round for its Boiler Upgrade Scheme – an initiative awarding GBP 7,500 ($9,500) to families in England and Wales to replace traditional boilers for heat pumps – “surged” with a threefold increase in applications.
India’s Bluebird Solar announces 2 GW module capacity expansion plan
Delhi-based Bluebird Solar, which currently operates 400 MW of annual panel manufacturing capacity, says it will ramp up capacity to 1.2 GW by March 2024 and to 2 GW by March 2025.
EDF, Scatec Africa win South Africa’s battery procurement auction
The South African Government’s Department of Mineral Resources and Energy announced French utility Électricité de France (EDF) will develop 257 MW of battery energy-storage systems across three projects, while South African renewable energy company Scatec Africa will develop one 103 MW project.
Weekend Read: Connecting HJT
The application of busbarless cell interconnection approaches could unlock the potential of heterojunction (HJT) technology, primarily by reducing the historically high silver usage of negatively-doped, “n-type” cell technology. As HJT manufacturing increases, a wave of applications may very well be on the horizon.
Chinese PV Industry Brief: Tongwei, Canadian Solar announce new factories
Tongwei is planning a cell and module factory in the Sichuan province, while Canadian Solar is setting up a new wafer factory in the Jiangsu province.
