Vaillant showcases propane heat pump for residential applications
Germany’s Vaillant has developed an air-source heat pump that uses propane (R290) as the refrigerant. It can produce between 3.5 kW and 12 kW of heat, and domestic hot water to a temperature of up to 75 C. It says the heat pump maximizes savings when paired with rooftop solar.
South Africa launches tender for floating, ground-mounted PV
The South African government is looking for independent power producers to build and operate floating or ground-mounted PV projects at selected government waterworks infrastructure or damns. The projects should be operational for 20 years.
Temperature estimates for floating PV modules
Scientists from the United States and Brazil have developed four different ways to estimate the temperature of floating PV modules. They validated the models with temperature measurements from a floating solar plant in Brazil.
Enel starts building 170 MW of agrivoltaics in Italy
Enel Green Power says it has started working on the largest agrivoltaics plant in Italy. It will feature bifacial PV modules mounted on trackers. Olive trees will grow around the solar panel rows.
German manufacturer achieves 80% overall efficiency with new PVT solar module
Sunmaxx says Fraunhofer ISE has confirmed the 80% efficiency of its new photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) module. It consists of 108 PERC half-cells in M10 format, with 400 W of electrical output and 1,200 W of thermal output.
Germany added 1.62 GW of PV in January-February period
Germany’s grid authority has reported that the country added 874 MW of solar in January and 746 MW in February.
Gensol Engineering acquires Scorpius Trackers
Gensol Engineering has acquired Indian solar tracking specialist Scorpius Trackers for $16.42 million.
Qcells announces new US solar encapsulant factory
Hanwha Advanced Materials Georgia has agreed to supply EVA encapsulant film to Qcells, in addition to supporting Qcells’ plans to develop a fully integrated solar supply chain in the United States.
New propane heat pump for district heating
Swedish manufacturer Qvantum has developed a 6 kW heat pump for apartments connected to district heating systems. It uses propane (R290) as the refrigerant.
Meyer Burger aiming for EU funding to hit gigawatt scale
Swiss PV manufacturer Meyer Burger hit its 321 MW production volume target last year, and its expansion into the gigawatt scale is already underway, as it recently completed two additional purchase agreements with major customers. It has also applied for hundreds of millions of funding support from the EU Innovation Fund, with a final decision to be made in the summer.
