Author: solarenergy

A new report from Wood Mackenzie examines how the global shift to higher interest rates to combat inflation is putting pressure on the energy transition. April 23, 2024 Ryan KennedyBy pv magazine USAAfter a period of historically low interest rates from 2009 to 2022, central banks sharply raised interest rates to combat inflation. Rising capital costs have “profound implications” for the energy and natural resources industries. Wood Mackenzie said in a recently published report.The transition to a net-zero economy could require $75 trillion in investment globally by 2050, the research firm said. The higher capital costs pose a challenge to…

The 14th meeting of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) last week in Abu Dhabi underscored the central role of geopolitics and security in today’s global energy landscape. The meeting also called for greater action to achieve the COP28 target of tripling the deployment of renewable energy sources by 2030. April 23, 2024 Emiliano BelliniThe opening of IRENA’s 14th meeting by President Francesco La Camera highlighted the urgency of implementing specific strategies to help the world meet the 2030 target set at last year’s COP28 conference in Dubai. The goal is to triple global solar capacity by the end of…

Chinese module manufacturer JinkoSolar has posted 2023 sales of approximately $16.4 billion and net profit of $1.06 billion, with PV module shipments reaching 78.52 GW. Module production capacity reached 110 GW at the end of December. April 24, 2024 Vincent ShawChinese solar panel manufacturer JinkoSolar has unveiled its 2023 financial report, showing remarkable growth in both revenue and net profit. It said it posted revenue of CNY118.682 billion ($16.38 billion), up 43.55% from the previous year. Net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies reached CNY7.440 billion ($1.06 billion), up 153.20% year-on-year.It attributed the revenue increase to a significant increase…

Credit: Amazon On April 16, nearly 200 solar and storage companies sent a letter to congressional leaders calling for legislation to improve permitting, project siting, transmission, and access to public lands for solar and solar + storage projects. Market forecasts indicate that a range of policy and economic outcomes will determine the scale of solar deployment over the next decade, including regulatory factors and the pace of transmission capacity expansion. Companies across the solar and storage value chain are calling on lawmakers to propose licensing and siting reforms that could support the sector’s growth trajectory. “There are hundreds of billions…

Burundi, the poorest country in the world, is unable to buy fossil fuels on the international market due to a lack of hard currency. pv magazine spoke with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and a PV analyst to assess the true potential of PV in the country’s current energy crisis. April 25, 2024 Sergio MatalucciBurundi installed 340 kW of energy capacity in 2023, the UNDP said pv magazineadding that the country could increase this by 2024. The local office couldn’t do it provide a forecast for 2024 or the total installed capacity in 2022, because many small-scale projects often…

The South Korean government has announced a new package of measures to support agricultural voltaic projects. It says that agrivoltaic activities should be a priority for agricultural companies. April 24, 2024 Emiliano BelliniSouth Korea’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has issued three new measures to support the deployment of agricultural voltaic facilities across the country.The first and most important measure consists of extending the permit for the use of unused agricultural land for agrivoltaic energy generation from eight to 23 years.“Regional governments plan to work with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy to provide policy incentives regarding…

Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have identified a high-energy, high-performance hybrid sodium-ion battery that can be charged in just seconds. The system integrates anode materials typically used in batteries with cathodes suitable for supercapacitors. April 25, 2024 Marija MaischSodium-ion energy storage systems have received considerable attention due to their superior safety, raw material costs, and environmental performance compared to ubiquitous lithium-ion batteries. However, the technology is unlikely to challenge the incumbent until costs are reduced by improving technical performance, establishing supply chains and achieving economies of scale.There are two types of sodium-ion energy storage…

Chemitek has developed new cleaning products for floating PV arrays. The Portuguese company says it has tested and confirmed that it is safe for animals and vegetation around such systems. April 25, 2024 Lior Kahana Chemitek Solar, a Portuguese manufacturer of cleaning solutions for the PV industry, said two of its new products have passed ecotoxicity tests for their use on floating PV installations (FPV). It claimed that Solar Wash Protect (SWP) and Water Softening Agent (WSA) are both safe for vegetation and animals living around floating plants.“The research shows that the SWP only needs a water column under the…

An international research team has proposed using iron oxide and copper oxide to reduce the photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) temperature of solar panels. Their analysis showed that the two compounds were able to reduce the operating temperature of the panels by 23.49% and 34.58% respectively. April 25, 2024 Lior KahanaAn international group of scientists proposed using copper oxide (CuO) and iron oxide (Fe2O3) nanofluids to reduce the operating temperatures of photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) systems.“The present study provides an energy and exergy assessment for a PVT system taking into account the thermodynamic laws using CuO and Fe2O3 nanofluids in different volume fractions, circulated in…

An international research team has used the deep learning algorithm of the convolutional neural network (CNN) to identify faults in solar panels. Their work showed that the proposed technique has a high degree of accuracy, especially when combined with transfer learning models. April 25, 2024 Lior KahanaA group of researchers led by the University of Sharjah in the UAE proposed using the convolutional neural network (CNN) technique to detect temperature- and shading-induced faults in PV modules. CNN is a deep learning algorithm that can extract and learn features from visual data.“CNN extracts feature maps from datasets using kernels and filters…