Author: solarenergy
The pv magazine Awards 2024 The winners have been announced, celebrating success in a record year for solar and storage. This year’s awards program was more competitive than ever, attracting 308 entries from 36 countries. A total of eight pv magazine Award winners were chosen, following a process in which twenty independent jury members from around the world gave their assessment of the solutions on display. New standards for module efficiency, massive battery growth and innovation across the supply chain were all evident from this year’s entries. The investments in capacity, quality and R&D were clearly visible, but what was…
Like the the world’s largest resource of renewable energy, hydropower plays an important role in stabilizing the electricity grid. While solar power relies on the sun to shine and wind turbines need the wind to blow, hydropower turbines can (usually) be turned on or off at will. Hydropower is widely used for the storage of electrical energy, so-called pumped storage, which means that it can compensate for the fluctuations of wind and solar energy in the electricity grid. Its value in the race to a climate-neutral economy is proven, but aging infrastructures, unpredictable weather patterns and ever-changing regulatory requirements are…
New research from China shows that regions with dense PV installations, such as Southern China, Central and Northern Europe, Central and Eastern America and Japan, are most exposed to weather-related events with extremely low production. The researchers proposed a mitigation strategy to reduce the impact of these events on PV energy generation. December 3, 2024 Emiliano Bellini A group of researchers in China have examined the impact of weather-related Extremely Low Production (ELP) events on the global fleet of PV systems in different regions and concluded that more investments may be needed to improve the effectiveness of the systems to…
BMW Group says it will switch its Regensburg plant’s logistics to hydrogen by 2026, replacing electric vehicles with hydrogen-powered forklifts and route trains, while Exolum has launched a new business line to offer integrated logistics solutions in the entire hydrogen value chain December 3, 2024 Sergio Matalucci BMW Group said it plans to switch production logistics at its plant in Regensburg, Germany, to hydrogen by 2026. The transition will help diversify the factory’s energy mix and optimize logistics processes. “From 2026hydrogen-powered route trains and forklift trucks will do that be deployed for all transport and logistics tasks,” said the German…
Scientists have designed a PVT-powered direct contact membrane distillation system for off-grid applications. The system is intended for desalination purposes in remote areas. December 3, 2024 Lior Kahana Researchers from Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) Manufacturing have developed a new off-grid direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) system that operates on photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) panels. The proposed system is intended for desalination applications in remote areas. “The modular and adaptable design aims to provide a practical off-grid solution suitable for regions with limited access to water and energy infrastructure,” the team said. “It can provide an energy-efficient solution for…
Catalina Energy Capital says it is now on track to advise on more than 4 GW of solar and storage assets by the end of 2024. December 3, 2024 Anne Fischer By pv magazine USA Catalina Energy Capital is a renewable energy investment bank with a mission to accelerate the energy transition by creating capital solutions for debt and equity markets, mergers and acquisitions, climate technology, power purchase agreements and tax credits. Dan Rittenhouse, who founded the bank in July 2023, explained pv magazine USA that the company raises capital at the corporate and project level, spanning early, mid and…
Render of Invinity’s Endurium flow batteries at a project site. Image: Invinity Energy Systems. Invinity Energy Systems’ new vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) technology enables renewable energy sources to replace conventional grid generation 24/7, the company claims. Anglo-American flow battery company Invinity today launched its new product Endurium. It follows approximately three years of R&D, testing and prototyping, during which Invinity collaborated with Siemens Gamesa on technology development. The company is designed for high energy throughput with unlimited cycles and with a reduction of at least 50% of the footprint required for installation at project sites. The company says it…
Germany-based Wavelabs has announced that its LED solar simulator Sinus-3000 Advanced has demonstrated an uncertainty level of 0.9% for the power measurement of silicon solar panels. December 3, 2024 Valerie Thompson Germany’s Wavelabs has announced that its LED solar simulator Sinus-3000 Advanced, which was introduced last year, has now demonstrated the ability to deliver a low uncertainty of 0.9% when measuring module power. The result was achieved with a solar panel calibration system installed by the customer Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), the German national metrology institute. It is an achievement that the group says is “currently the lowest known uncertainty for…
In Sinovoltaics’ latest financial stability ranking of inverter manufacturers, Hoymiles Power Electronics, APSystems (Yuneng Technology) and Eaton are in the top three. December 3, 2024 Valerie Thompson Sinovoltaics, a technical compliance and quality assurance services provider headquartered in Hong Kong, has announced the fourth edition of its global PV Inverter Manufacturer Ranking Report. It tracks financial stability scores over time, from December 2021 to September 2024. Highlights this quarter, according to Sinovoltaics, include India-based Sineng Electric rising from 18 to 16, China’s Ginlong (Solis) Technologies rising from 29 to 25, and General Electric climbing from 19 to 21. The first…
The co-located BESS development is the result of three years of collaboration between Ørsted, NESO and National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET). Image: Jason Dag via Ørsted. A 300MW/600MWh battery energy storage system (BESS), located next to Ørsted’s Hornsea 3 Offshore Wind Farm onshore substation, is expected to come online in 2026. The BESS, called the Boudica project, will be owned by Ørsted ICENI Energy Storage UK, the storage-focused arm of the Danish energy company and developer. It is a new project because the storage system will be co-located with an onshore substation, which will share a connection with an offshore…