Author: solarenergy
There is a new focus on professional solar panel cleaning techniques in the United States following the launch of the online community Friends for cleaning solar panels and Soilar Tech certification school. The groups are also sold approved online cleaning equipment. Soilar technology is supported by the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP), and classes led by Carla Dawson are now available online. The online community and certification school are run by cleaning specialist Chris Virgin. He has run San Diego-based residential solar panel cleaning company SolarTidy since 2016 and also has experience cleaning commercial-scale projects. Virgin said…
Carbon, a French manufacturer of PV modules, says it will invest 33 million euros in a new R&D center. July 2, 2024 Gwénaëlle Deboutte By pv magazine FranceFrench panel manufacturer Carbon said it will build a new R&D center in Istres, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France. The location is not far from the planned module factory in Fos-sur-Mer.From 2027, the laboratory will include technical platforms and operational equipment to enable production scale-up. The site will also house a ‘solar campus’ as well as a documentation and training centre.The building contains several vacant commercial buildings that will be renovated.…
Scientists from Australia’s National Science Agency and Google’s Electricity Research and Development division have developed a new ‘smart’ inverter that they say is almost twice as fast and about 50% more efficient than existing commercial inverters. July 2, 2024 David CarollBy pv magazine AustraliaA team of scientists from the CSIRO and Tapestry, part of Google .The CSIRO said the new inverter prototype, which is based on embedded intelligence technology used in electric vehicles (EVs) and autonomous drones, features signal detection and signal filtering hardware, as well as grid-forming and microgrid software.The scientists said this will allow the inverters to communicate…
Maya McFadyen is on a mission to eliminate carbon emissions. The Hauppauge High School student, who recently completed her freshman year, launched a project titled Better Minds Bettering Planet, in which she researched and analyzed her school’s carbon footprint and estimated how much carbon emissions it accounts for per year. years responsible. Carbon emissions contribute to climate change, which can have negative impacts on the environment and human health, she said. In an effort to bring about change, McFadyen, 17, is raising money to buy one carbon offset for every tonne of the school’s annual emissions, which she estimates at…
Martin Schachinger, founder of pvXchange.com, says solar panel prices are falling across the board, while batteries and inverters are reaching historically low prices due to market oversupply. July 2, 2024 Martin Schachinger, pvXchange.com The atmosphere was optimistic at the recent Intersolar Europe trade show and Smarter E Europe event in Munich, Germany, despite high hotel prices due to the ongoing UEFA football championship. Most rooms were well attended. Exhibitors seemed pleased with the show, but football was ubiquitous and matches were played on monitors at every stand. Events were also planned around the match between Germany and Hungary.However, beneath the…
Statkraft sees significant potential in co-location/hybrid assets under the same grid connection and is pushing for policy changes in this area to maximize system benefits. Image: Statkraft. In an editorial that originally appeared in Vol.39 of PV Tech powerStatkraft’s Rory Griffin wrote about the challenges and opportunities encountered in developing Ireland’s first grid-scale 4-hour battery energy storage system (BESS). Statkraft is currently building the BESS project in County Offaly, central Ireland. The 20MW BESS, supplied by Fluence, a global leader in utility-scale energy storage solutions and services, will be co-located with the company’s 55.8 MW Cushaling wind farm, which is…
The Saudi research institute said its new four-junction tandem device has achieved the highest efficiency ever reported for perovskite-based 4-T and triple-junction tandem solar cells to date. The main feature of the cell is the hole transport layer of the top perovskite cell, which is designed with self-assembled monolayers. July 2, 2024 Emiliano BelliniResearchers from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia have fabricated a semi-transparent four-terminal (4T) perovskite-perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell with an active surface area of 1 cm2.“After double-junction perovskite/silicon solar cells, there will be three-junction perovskite/perovskite/silicon tandems,” says the lead author of the…
L’Energética, a regional energy company in Catalonia, Spain, has invested €10 million ($10.7 million) in solar power plants with a combined capacity of at least 5 MW. July 2, 2024 Pilar Sanchez Molina By pv magazine SpainEnergètica, the Catalan public renewable energy company, has opened the first process for purchasing renewable energy projects through a public tender procedure. All interested companies can participate.The Catalan government’s renewable energy company plans to allocate up to €10 million ($10.2 million) to purchase ground-mounted solar farms with a combined capacity of up to 5 MW.The government company will give priority to new construction projects.…
Watts-Willowbrook Church of Christ, known as “The Brook,” in partnership with RE-volv and California Interfaith Power & Light (CIPL), celebrated the commissioning of a new 12 kW rooftop solar power plant and upcoming battery storage facility. The church’s move to adopt solar energy aims to ease financial strains, build community resilience and support local clean energy projects and advocacy. The celebration included a ribbon-cutting ceremony, a speaking program with remarks from Compton Mayor Emma Sharif, and a workshop on resilience. The Mayor presented two awards, recognizing The Brook and Mrs. Linda Cleveland, longtime community activist and church secretary, for their…
China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) said nationwide solar curtailment was 3.3% in the January-May period, and 2.5% in May alone. July 2, 2024 Vincent Shaw The NEA said new renewable energy curtailment data for May 2024 shows an average PV usage rate of 97.5% and 96.7% from January to May. The average wind energy utilization rate in May was 94.8% and from January to May 95.9%. Global case studies show that average discount rates are typically close to 3%.Anhui Huasun New Energy has signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with the municipal government of Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui region, to invest…