Solar Power

The pilotless, high-speed solar boat, now under development by Russian scientists, purportedly has unlimited power reserves. It could be used for marine patrols, search and rescue operations, and cargo delivery, they said.

The country reached 1.95 GW of installed PV capacity at the end of May, after installing around 653 MW of new projects in the first five months of this year. If the current growth trend continues over the next few months, Poland could become a gigawatt market in terms of annual additions for the first time this year.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk finds himself in the news quite often, from groundbreaking SpaceX launches to contentious tweets. Yet one story that has flown under the radar by the brash businessman’s standards has been going on for four years now.

German company Ecoligo is offering micro investment in the construction of a 69 kW floating solar plant on the reservoir of a flower farm.

Australian designer Chuck Anderson’s Lilypad is a 100% solar-powered villa floating off Palm Beach in north Sydney.

Fiat Chrysler has begun construction of a vehicle-to-grid pilot at its Mirafiori manufacturing facility in Turin. The project, which also includes 5 MW of PV, will eventually become a virtual power plant.

The Scottish water provider is seeking proposals for the development and construction of several solar plants ranging in size from 50 kW to 50 MW. The installations can be a combination of ground-mounted PV systems and rooftop arrays.

Researchers in the U.S. have demonstrated, using simulations, PV system generation can range from 18-60% of clear-sky potential during hurricanes – provided the arrays do not suffer damage. According to them, solar installations could continue to provide back-up power when grids are down during hurricanes, especially if coupled with energy storage.

Anesco is making its international debut with two more major projects for Shell New Energies – its first endeavor outside the UK. The two solar parks in the Netherlands will have a combined capacity of 26 MW. Anesco previously partnered with Shell New Energies on a battery storage project in the UK.

The levelized cost of energy generated by large scale solar plants is around $0.068/kWh, compared to $0.378 ten years ago and the price fell 13.1% between 2018 and last year alone, according to figures released by the International Renewable Energy Agency.