Author: solarenergy

Farming has come a long way since the days of manual labor and horse-drawn plows. Today’s farmers use advanced technology to maximize crop yields while minimizing resource use. Two key innovations that have revolutionized modern agriculture are irrigation systems and solar panels. When combined, these technologies create a powerful synergy that can boost farm productivity, reduce costs, and promote environmental sustainability. The Basics of Irrigation Systems What is Irrigation, Anyway? At its core, irrigation is simply the controlled application of water to crops to aid their growth. It’s an ancient practice that dates back thousands of years – think of…

This week, Women in Solar Europe (WiSEu) gives voice to María Mura, Head of Southern Europe Origination at Spain-based Nadara. She says the pressure to be excellent comes from the higher level of criticism women in leadership face. “Women are challenged not only by their peers and superiors, but also by themselves, pushing to prove that they have achieved success not by accident or accident, but through undeniable competence and hard work,” she says. October 25, 2024 Women in Solar Europe (WiSEu) Having worked in the energy sector for over a decade, I can confidently say that women in the…

High interest rates, excess inventory in warehouses and falling parts prices have created a perfect storm for solar distributors since October 2023. Frank Jessel, CEO of BayWa re Solar Trade, explains how the industry can embrace true digitalization to better navigate this volatility. October 25, 2024 Frank Jessel From pv magazine 24/10 Normalized solar demand after June 2023, following previous peak years, meant solar equipment distributors faced high inventory levels as prices fell. While the solar industry is expected to grow 7.31% annually through 2029, module prices have continued to decline. New ways must be found to deal with fluctuating…

Belfast Solar I (Source: Syncarpha Capital) Syncarpha capitalBelfast Solar I’s community solar project has been approved to operate since earlier this month. Located adjacent to Belfast Municipal Airport, the project supplies energy directly to Central Maine Power (CMP), which benefits CMP customers through the state’s Net Energy Billing Program. The project covers 13 hectares and consists of three fixed tilting, ground-mounted arrays with a total capacity of 4.6 MW. The company says Belfast Solar I is designed to avoid wetlands and comply with Maine’s Stormwater Management Chapter 500. It marks Syncarpha’s sixth operational community solar…

Huge US lithium mine receives government approval A massive lithium mine in the Nevada desert received final government approval Thursday in a project the miner says will quadruple U.S. production of a mineral crucial to the renewable energy revolution. Operations at Rhyolite Ridge will produce enough lithium to supply the batteries for more than 370,000 electric vehicles annually, Australian operator Ioneer said. The plant will create 500 construction jobs over the next few years and 350 jobs over the decades of extraction, the company said. “There are few deposits in the world that have the impact of Rhyolite Ridge,” said…

The project has therefore reached the phase of preparing the subsidy agreement. The next step will be the preparation and signing of the grant agreement with Cinea, the granting authority, to formalize the financing of €21 million. October 25, 2024 Sergio Matalucci Italian solar company FuturaSun’s FENICE project, aimed at building a high-efficiency photovoltaic module factory in Italy, has passed the selection phase of the European Executive Agency for Climate, Infrastructure and the Environment (CINEA) as part of the non-repayable financing of the European Union. Union’s Innovation Fund. “The new factory will produce more than 7.6 GW of high-efficiency photovoltaic…

A map of the proposed Buckland development. Image: Windelenergie. Canadian Solar subsidiary Recurrent Energy and Windel Energy have submitted a construction application for a 150 MW battery energy storage system (BESS). The Buckland BESS will be located on 13.5 hectares of land west of the village of Buckland Ripers, near Weymouth in Dorset. The proposed site is directly adjacent to the already operational Nottington Lane Solar Farm, a 5 MWp project owned by Wessex Solar Energy. If approved, the development would be connected to the electrical grid through the nearby Chickerell substation. Prior to this application, pre-application surveying work has…

At the RE-Source conference in Amsterdam this week, RE-Source Platform Policy and Impact Director Annie Scanlan predicted record corporate power Purchase Agreement (PPA) growth in Europe by 2024. Corporate PPA capacity has already reached 10.7 this year GW reached almost last year’s value. record of 10.8 GW. October 25, 2024 Eckhart Gouras At yesterday’s opening session of this year’s RE-Source conference in Amsterdam, Annie Scanlan, policy and impact director of the RE-Source Platform, provided an optimistic assessment of corporate PPA growth in Europe. After reaching 10.8 GW of contracted capacity in 2023, corporate renewable energy PPAs are set to surpass…

The Indian manufacturer has unveiled a TOPCon bifacial solar panel with 18 busbars with an energy conversion efficiency of 23.35%. October 22, 2024 Uma Gupta By pv magazine India At REI Expo 2024, India’s Credence unveiled its Quasar N series of n-type TOPCon glass-to-glass modules, including an 18-busbar 725W module with up to 23.35% efficiency. The Quasar N-series 725 Wp panel is built with 132 half-cut n-type TOPCon cells based on G12 wafers. The company said the new product has a bifaciality factor of up to 85%. It measures 2,384mm x 1,303mm x 35mm and weighs 39.75kg. Credence also announced…

A 5 MW solar array providing power to a nearby university was inaugurated Thursday in Middlebury, Vermont. With the help of Encore renewable energy And Greenbacker renewable energy40% of Middlebury College’s electricity is powered by solar energy. The solar array is one of the largest in the state, with 15,348 solar panels mounted on single-axis trackers. Credit: Encore Renewable Energy “It has truly been a collaborative effort to get the solar panels fully powered and ready to provide renewable clean energy to the college,” said Lauri L. Patton, president of Middlebury College, noting that Middlebury students helped create the project…