Solar PV

The German authorities have awarded 2.15 GW of utility-scale solar in a new tender, with bids ranging from €0.0450 ($0.05)/kWh to €0.0524/kWh. The tender was oversubscribed to 4.2 GW.

Reliance Industries says its new energy business is developing heterojunction (HJT) bifacial solar panels with 26% efficiency, alongside plans to commercialize perovskite and HJT with interdigitated back-contact (IBC) technology within the next two years.

Energy Fiji Ltd. has started accepting bids for the development, operation and maintenance of three ground-mounted solar plants in Fiji with a combined capacity of 21.93 MW. The deadline for applications is Oct. 30.

The German research institute is working on developing advanced, high-resolution material and thin film characterization methods that may become a set of simplified and rapid measurement procedures for routine use in intellectual property investigations.

Switzerland-based energy producer MET Group has finished building a 23.4 MW solar project in eastern Hungary. It will generate enough energy to supply around 13,000 local homes and has a life expectancy of 30 years.

This week, Women in Solar Europe (WiSEu) gives voice to Laure-Aline Baheux, Power & Renewables BL Manager at Omexom – Vinci Energies. She says companies must ask why they need more women, and reflect on the challenges of recruiting and retaining them. “It’s essential to adapt job offers and career paths. For instance, recognizing that women often apply only when they meet more qualifications than men,” she states.  

BloombergNEF says the global solar industry will install 592 GW of modules this year, up 33% on 2023. The consultancy has also lowered its estimate for 2024 polysilicon production, as manufacturers are temporarily scaling back output.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that Australia experienced extreme and diverse weather throughout July and August, resulting in varied impacts on solar irradiance across the country’s states.

Researchers in Morocco have carefully configured and tested a novel desert solar module optimized for harsh desert climates.  The new design delivered a 5.8% improvement in performance ratio, a 1.95% increase in efficiency, and reduced temperature sensitivity by 0.85% compared to standard modules.

New research from Switzerland shows that capex costs for Alpine PV projects in Switzerland currently range between €2,231/kW and €4,182/KW for ground-mounted projects and up to €3,802/kW and €7,108/kW for wall-mounted and floating projects, respectively.