Solar

In January, India’s cumulative PV capacity reached 38.8 GW. This was enough to surpass wind and make solar the first renewable energy source in the country.

Scientists at Germany’s Fraunhofer ISE developed a model to simulate different setups for screen printing in solar cell metallization. The model provides a comparable ‘screen utility index’ value that can predict the usefulness of different architectures in the printing equipment in relation to the properties of a given silver paste. The approach, says Fraunhofer, will assist the PV industry in reducing the amounts of silver needed in silicon cell manufacturing.

Swiss scientists have analyzed scenarios to predict the role of PV in the global energy mix by 2050 and have found that European entities expect a sharply higher compound annual growth rate than their Asian and North American counterparts. They also noted that the growth scenarios of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are more conservative than other predictions.

Researchers at the University of South Australia are spearheading a national push to establish a stewardship scheme to manage the impacts of PV systems through their life cycle, as increasing numbers of decommissioned solar PV modules threaten a waste management nightmare.

Of the 4.5 GW of small-scale solar capacity added in the United States in 2020, California accounted for 31%. New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts are leaders for small-scale solar capacity despite having less favorable solar resources.

Province Resources is pushing ahead quickly with its plan to develop a 1 GW hybrid solar PV and wind farm in Western Australia as part of a proposal to produce renewable hydrogen for domestic and foreign markets.

The obligation will be applied annually from 2022. Colombian power utilities will have to procure the clean energy concerned under long-term contracts lasting at least a decade.

The Turkish government has revealed the tender’s five-day schedule between March 8-12. It also specified how much capacity each of the 36 cities reached by the procurement exercise will have.

The device was developed by an international consortium through the EU-funded project Renewable penetration levered by Efficient Low Voltage Distribution grids (RESOLVD). The power electronic technology is claimed to be able to combine different storage technologies in a single electronic-based board interface.

The German manufacturer said the result was confirmed by the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The achieved efficiency is claimed to be a world record for a CIGS panel with an integrated series connection of 30×30 cm.