Solar proves common thread among Zayed Sustainability Prize winners
The opening ceremony of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week 2023 was not short of inspirational rhetoric, but the winners of the Zayed Sustainability Prize provided some real-world examples of what action on the local level really looks like.
CEA-INES unveils 566 W HJT solar module with low carbon footprint
French research institute CEA-INES has produced a 566 W heterojunction (HJT) demonstrator PV panel using Norwegian silicon wafers based on German polysilicon and solar cells made in France. The prototype has a carbon footprint of 317 kgCO2eq/kW, which is considerably lower than the maximum 800 kgCO2eq/kW standard for Chinese products.
Stepping UP in 2021: #1 How agri-PV could address two of the biggest sustainability challenges of our times
2021 marked the second year of pv magazine’s UP Initiative where we shined a spotlight on sustainability in the solar industry. Over the course of 12 months, we focused on four key issues. First up was agrivoltaics – the combination of agriculture and solar energy – in recognition of this emerging market. The goal was to understand the potential benefits and economic, political, and technical challenges of such an innovative partnership. Read on to discover our coverage from this quarterly theme and watch out over the coming days for the topics of Workers’ rights, Sustainable electricity and corporates’ critical solar role, and Urban Solar.
CEA-INES: ‘It is necessary and urgent to redefine system thinking about materials use in the PV industry’
CEA-INES, the French National Institute for Solar Energy, is gearing up to host the fourth edition of its ECO-PV workshop. Originally scheduled to be held this spring, Covid-19 has seen it pushed back to March 2021. Experts in the field of solar sustainability will present on, and discuss, “Photovoltaics: towards a sustainable industry”, with topics ranging from recycling, lifecycle assessment and European policy to manufacturing and the circular economy. In an interview, the institute speaks to pv magazine about the current state of solar sustainability and its goals for future work.
pv magazine video: The pressing need for sustainability in solar
The solar industry faces many challenges in its move to become truly sustainable and that goal is imperative, rather than being simply a luxury, if the sector is to achieve terawatt scale. pv magazine’s first Sustainability Roundtable took place on June 10 and included discussion as to why sustainability matters in PV and which business, regulatory and technological approaches can be applied to achieve truly “green” solar power. A video of the event can be streamed online.
