Special PV plant design for livestock in Taiwan
Taipower is experimenting with PV installations on grazing land for cattle, with the support of the Taiwan Council of Agriculture. The modules have been installed at a height of 3 meters, so the cows can graze beneath them.
Indian manufacturers request duties on PV imports
India imported $1.3 billion worth of solar cells and modules from China in fiscal 2019-20, but domestic manufacturers are now demanding a level playing field to compete against cheaper imports.
The steeplechase of transparent PV
A South Korean research team has claimed that transparent PV technologies need to improve in terms of efficiency, stability and aesthetics before they can reach commercial maturity.
PV plant providing grid ancillary services in Chile
Chile’s National Electric Coordinator has granted approval for a new First Solar PV project to supply auxiliary grid services on a commercial basis. The installation has performed better than gas turbine technologies.
Western Australia’s largest PV project now operational
Risen Energy’s 132 MW Merredin Solar Farm has been connected to the Western Australian grid.
China Three Gorges buys 570 MW of Spanish solar
The power company has won the race to acquire a 572 MW, 13-project solar plant portfolio owned by Madrid-based, Canadian-U.S.-controlled developer X-Elio.
Erdogan opens ingot-to-module solar factory in Ankara
The $1.4 billion cost includes a 1 GW solar field 260km away in Konya. The factory was developed solely by Kalyon Solar Technologies after development partner Hanwha Q-Cells walked away from the project.
New business model to help utilities own and operate rooftop PV
Scientists from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the U.S. have defined a utility-ownership model for rooftop PV they say could raise power company shareholder earnings 2-5%.
New 635-660 W module series from Trina
The latest products in the Vertex series from the Chinese manufacturer, unveiled at the SNEC PV Power Expo in Shanghai, are available in six versions with reported efficiency ranging from 20.4-21.2%.
Photovoltaic blinds to improve greenhouse energy performance
A Swedish-Iranian research team modeled 14 photovoltaic blind configurations in checkerboard arrays 1m above a greenhouse roof emulated with EnergyPlus building energy simulation software. The group found a PV installation would reduce natural gas consumption, electricity demand and carbon emissions.
