Author: solarenergy
Solar energy developer BOOM Power has sold two solar projects with a combined capacity of 110MW to solar PV developer-operator Enray Power. The first project, the Firsfield Solar Plant, is located to the east of Firsfield in the parish of Bardwell, West Suffolk, and covers approximately 237 hectares of rural land. It will deliver an installed capacity of 71 MWp with export capacity of up to 46.9 MWac and received planning approval from West Suffolk Council in April 2024.Meanwhile, the second project, the Osgodby Solar Farm in North Yorkshire, located north-east of Osgodby and north-west of Cliffe Common, will cover…
Dorset Council has announced plans to develop a 50MW solar PV facility on the Farms Estate site in Chickerell.The council plans to build the power station on council-owned land, Higher South Buckland Farm, a site that Dorset Council says has already been identified as suitable for solar energy generation in its local plan options. The design of the solar site will preserve public rights of way and provide a net benefit to biodiversity.According to the council, if it goes ahead, the project will be one of the largest renewable energy projects on council-owned land in the South West of England.The…
National solar developer Pine Gate Renewables is applying Chapter 11 bankruptcy and the sale of its solar and energy storage project portfolio and its independent energy producer activities. This includes completed and under-development projects, of which the company indicates there is 10 GWdirect current in progress. Credit: Pine Gate Renewables According to the press release announcing bankruptcy and sale of company assetsPine Gate intends to continue operations through the transaction. In September, Blue Ridge Power, the engineering, purchasing and construction subsidiary of Pine Gate Renewables, filed a WARN notice with the state to lay off more than 500 employees by…
Britain is one of several countries to score a perfect ten for its policy and technology environment for conventional pumped water storage (PHS) in a report published by Energy Systems Catapult.The report, Mission Innovation – Long-term energy storageanalyzes the viability of deploying long-term energy storage systems (LDES) in a number of countries and for a number of technologies, assigning countries scores out of ten to assess the current political and economic environment’s support for new LDES deployments.In general terms, the report concludes that countries with a number of LDES deployments are more attractive destinations, as these older projects demonstrate the…
The EU Innovation Fund has awarded €2.9 billion ($3.4 billion) to 61 projects, including eight advanced hydrogen technologies in aviation, shipping and heavy transport. November 7, 2025 Sergio Matalucci The European Union has chosen 61 net-zero technology projects for funding under the Innovation Fund for NetZero Technologies call, with a total support of €2.9 billion. Eight of these projects focus on hydrogen, including the Danish Endor project to build large-scale Sustainable Aviation Fuel (eSAF), the Spanish Luxia project for the integrated production of renewable hydrogen, methanol and ammonia, and the H2CWAY project in the Czech Republic to produce two types…
A group of scientists in China have conducted an extensive study on the existing low-cost approaches to photovoltaic monitoring. They found that only 11 of 88 studies related to PV monitoring included machine learning. The researchers urge the scientific community to place more emphasis on lightweight machine learning solutions and smartphone-based integration. November 7, 2025 Lior Kahana Researchers from the American University of Iraq have conducted a systematic literature review on low-cost monitoring systems for photovoltaic (PV) installations, focusing on hardware, software and system integration, and highlighting the challenges and opportunities for the future of these systems. “As solar energy…
November 7, 2025 Marija Maisch Sinopec and LG Chem sign agreement to jointly develop sodium-ion battery materials Image: Sinopec By ESS news China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) and South Korea’s LG Chem have signed a joint development agreement to develop key materials for sodium-ion batteries as the technology moves closer to mass commercialization. Under the agreement, the two companies will collaborate in the development of cathode and anode materials for sodium-ion batteries, targeting applications in energy storage systems and low-speed electric vehicles in China and international markets. The partnership aims to “accelerate the commercialization of sodium-ion battery technology, explore…
Open Climate Fix says its Quartz Solar tool will save the UK grid operator £30 million ($39 million) a year through more accurate forecasts, reducing the spare capacity needed to balance the electricity system. The non-profit company has used machine learning techniques with satellite, weather and historical generation data to reduce forecast errors by half. November 7, 2025 Matthew Lynas A newly deployed AI-powered solar energy tool is expected to save the UK electricity grid millions of pounds in balancing costs by making more accurate predictions about solar power generation. Quartz Solar from Open Climate Fix is now being used…
The 556 MW GulfStar solar power plant in Wharton County, Texas. Credit: Enel Enel North America completed its largest power plant in the United States with the start of operation of the 556 MWdirect current GulfStar Solar Plant in Wharton County, Texas. It is located next to an operational 355 MW Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), which entered commercial service for the first time in late 2024. GulfStar’s solar and BESS facilities are expected to generate more than $200 million in combined local tax payments and revenues for landowners over their lifetime. More than 1,200 workers were involved in the…
The researchers used computational fluid dynamics-based modeling of snow patterns in an effort to identify best practices to reduce snow accumulation in alpine PV installations. November 7, 2025 Valerie Thompson Researchers from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF in Switzerland have modeled snow patterns to identify some best practices for PV installations built with Helioplant, a patented Austrian vertical PV frame structure. “PV systems in the Alps have shown strong potential for electricity production in winter, particularly due to the reflection of incoming solar radiation by the snow cover. While…