solar modules

The panel features an efficiency of 20% and a thermal power of 600 W-thermal per square meter.

Despite a difficult regulatory framework for utility scale solar, two new projects were announced in southern Italy this week. A 700 MW project is being planned by German companies Steag and KGAL and a 78 MW plant will be built by UK-based Lightsource BP. Both facilities will be located in Sicily.

The new devices feature efficiencies ranging from 20.7-21%. The panels are said to be compatible with a wide range of slates and tiles, include special fixings for different batten thicknesses, and achieve the highest fire rating and wind resistance without modifications to the roof.

U.S. researchers are developing thin-film PV technologies to create lightweight solar sheets to support communication satellites and wirelessly transmit power to Earth-based receivers. A space-based solar array could include tens of millions of sheets, with a capacity of up to 800 MW.

The new interdigitated back-contact module comes with power outputs ranging from 370 to 380 W and is the most powerful panel produced by the company to date.

South Korean scientists have produced a solar cell based on antimony selenoiodide, with a 4.1% efficiency, a short-circuit current density of 14.8 mA cm2, an open-circuit voltage of 473.0 mV, and a fill factor of 58.7%. They claim the cell exhibits excellent stability in humid conditions.

In various forms, quantum dot technology has attracted plenty of attention among PV researchers recently. And as efficiencies have crept past the 15% mark, the community is beginning to look at other factors limiting the viability of quantum dot solar cells in a commercial setting. Scientists in Germany examined the degradation mechanisms affecting different quantum dot materials; and suggest a standardization of stability testing to enable comparability of results.

The draft regulation has now been sent to the country’s Council of State for review. If approved, the new rules will grant prosumers the right to ask to postpone the installation of a smart meter until 2025. Furthermore, the Flemish government said it will also compensate PV system owners with a sum that should ensure a reasonable investment return of 5%.

The Austrian government had devoted €50 million to the scheme for last year. These funds will enable the deployment of 15,957 PV systems.

India’s Sterling and Wilson – which has a global solar engineering, procurement and construction portfolio of more than 10.6 GWp – says that its latest contract in Egypt is for one of the country’s largest PV projects.