Key takeaways from Africa Energy Forum
The 25th edition of the Africa Energy Forum in Nairobi, Kenya, drew participants from across Africa and the world. pv magazine was on the ground at the trade show to speak with the attendees.
Functional requirements for grid-forming inverters
As the grid evolves toward a future dominated by inverters, manufacturers are developing and refining necessary stability functions.
Insolation Energy plans 600 MW solar cell factory in India
Insolation Energy, an Indian solar module manufacturer, is setting up a 600 MW PV cell production facility. It is also expanding its panel production capacity from 700 MW to 1.2 GW.
Solar Leaders at Intersolar 2023: Germany is ‘the fastest growing market’
Jörg Ebel, the president of German solar association BSW, spoke with pv magazine at Intersolar 2023 about the ongoing German solar renaissance, as the market has steadily recovered since its collapse in 2012. He sees growth across all segments, with untapped “opportunities” in the C&I market. However, he noted that Brussels needs to build trust, set a unified EU industry policy to support factory investments, and create the conditions for Germany to revitalize its upstream PV business.
Test shows higher yield, lower degradation for n-type solar modules
Research carried out by China‘s National Photovoltaic Quality Inspection Center shows that new n-type TOPCon modules are living up to their promise, outperforming the previous generation of p-type PERC products. Data gathered over six months from a fixed-tilt PV system showed that the n-type products produced 3.69% more energy, and also suffered much lower performance losses.
Maxeon’s PV module capacity hits 2.5 GW in Mexico
Maxeon Solar Technologies says it has invested $70 million to upgrade its panel factory in Mexicali, Mexico, to 1.8 GW. The remaining capacity is provided by a 700 MW facility that the Singapore-based manufacturer operates in Ensenada.
Australian startup launches 6 kW / 7.2 kWh mobile solar generator
Decarbon Venture has launched what it claims to be the world’s first “swappable” solar generator at half the weight and double the power rating of other products on the market.
Novel non-contact soldering technique for ribbon tabbing in solar cell manufacturing
Finnish scientists have tested a new eddy current-based soldering method for ribbon tabbing in solar cells and have found it considerably reduces the number of cracks and damages caused by thermal-mechanical stress in the process. They claim the new technique may already compete with conventional soldering methods in commercial production.
Savant Systems releases 18.5 kWh home battery
US-based Savant Systems has developed a new lithium-ferro-phosphate battery and inverter kit.
Austria hits 1 GW of annual solar installations
PV Austria says that 1,009 MW of PV systems were installed in Austria last year, enabling solar to meet approximately 6.6% of total electricity demand.
