Author: solarenergy
As part of the deal, SolarKW will be renamed Upvolt Oxfordshire. Image: KBS Corporate. Upvolt has acquired renewable energy company SolarKW in a deal aimed at expanding the reach of rooftop solar in the Oxfordshire region. SolarKW, which has previously won awards for its solar panel installation services, will be rebranded as Upvolt Oxfordshire following the deal. In the coming months, the new Upvolt Oxfordshire will look to acquire more companies in the renewable energy sector to increase the company’s presence in the UK. Upvolt specializes in smart solar installations for homes and businesses, allowing its customers to manage their…
The French government has allocated 464 MW of the 500 MW available in a technology-neutral renewable energy tender to PV projects. January 7, 2025 Gwénaëlle Deboutte By pv magazine France The French Ministry of Ecological Transition published the report list of winners of a technologically neutral tender for PV, hydropower and wind installations. The tender procedure was set up in accordance with the European Commission’s wish to enable direct and non-discriminatory competition between different renewable energy sources. For this third session, 500.6 MW was allocated against a requested volume of 500 MW. The tender accepted proposals for ground-mounted PV projects…
SolarPanelRecycling.com (SPR) announced that it has launched a double-sided solar panel recycling line at its recycling facilities in North Carolina and Georgia. The line enables clean glass separation with a recovery rate of 99% or higher, the company claims. “The future of solar recycling requires innovation and SPR wants to lead the way by establishing best practices. Our investment in a dedicated two-sided recycling line is a proactive step to ensure our recycling services are scalable and that we can maximize recovery, minimize waste and support the industry’s sustainability goals,” said Brett C. Henderson, CEO of SolarPanelRecycling .com . “True…
A California winery will meet 95% of its electricity needs with a solar panel that tilts on two axes to track direct sunlight all day long. January 7, 2025 Ryan Kennedy By pv magazine USA The Del Dotto Winery in Napa Valley, California, has installed a solar project with large dual-axis solar trackers from Mechatron Solar. The vineyard is expected to meet 95% of its electricity needs with the existing solar panels. Del Dotto Winery spends approximately $120,000 annually on PG&E electricity bills and is expected to save $3 million over the life of the project. The company is expected…
Because solar PV and wind capacity are distributed over large areas and multiple locations, expanding the electrical grid would allow renewable energy projects to connect and provide power in the quantities needed. Image: Roger Cornfoot / Wikimedia Commons. Global grid infrastructure and energy storage must be ramped up to avoid delaying 2030 targets, according to a report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The way the world wants it tripled installed renewable energy capacity – to reach 11 TW by 2030 – this makes investment and planning in the development of the electricity grid “even more urgent”, according to…
Central Japan Railway Co. and Sekisui Chemical have unveiled plans to deploy flexible perovskite-based PV systems along the Tokaido Shinkansen railway line in Japan. They use thin, lightweight, flexible film-type perovskite solar cells. January 7, 2025 Emiliano Bellini Central Japan Railway, which operates in Japan’s Chubu region, has announced plans to test flexible perovskite solar panels on noise barriers. The company is working with Sekisui Chemical, a Japanese plastics manufacturer that recently commissioned a 100 MW perovskite solar cell production line. The first pilot projects will be deployed along the Tokaido Shinkansen line, an area with high solar radiation. “By…
The new lithium-sulfur battery is fully charged in 12 minutes for more than 1000 cycles The research team led by Professor Jong-sung Yu from the DGIST Department of Energy Science and Engineering has introduced a significant advancement in lithium-sulfur battery technology. Using a new nitrogen-doped porous carbon material, the team has dramatically improved charging speeds, addressing a key barrier to the commercialization of lithium-sulfur batteries. Although lithium-ion batteries dominate environmentally friendly technologies such as electric vehicles, their limitations include lower energy storage and high costs. Lithium-sulfur batteries, on the other hand, have attracted attention due to their high energy density…
The CalLab of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) independently verified the record result. January 7, 2025 Vincent Shaw Chinese PV module manufacturer Trina Solar has announced that it has achieved an energy conversion efficiency of 25.44% in an n-type fully passivated heterojunction (HJT) solar panel. The CalLab of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (Fraunhofer ISE) independently verified the result, which is a world record for a crystalline silicon solar panel with a large surface area and contact structures on the front and back. Trina said this achievement represents her 30th world record for solar efficiency…
The European Heat Pump Association (EHPA) says that in most European countries there are no VAT benefits for heat pump installations in terms of initial costs. It calls on EU Member States to use available fiscal instruments to make installations more financially viable. January 6, 2025 Patrick Jowett The EHPA said in a new report that almost all European countries could take more fiscal measures to encourage heat pump installations. The report, “Heat pumps versus boilers – taxes and operating costs,” examines VAT rates in 30 European countries, including the 27 countries of the European Union, as well as Norway,…
An international team has combined organic synthesis with predictive modeling to discover new functional materials that improve the performance of hole transport layers used in perovskite solar cells. The team claims that optimization for other solar cell properties is possible with the platform, but also that it can be used to develop materials for other types of devices. January 6, 2025 Valerie Thompson An international team led by the Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg for Renewable Energy (HI ERN), a branch of the German research institute Forschungszentrum Jülich, has combined organic synthesis with predictive models to discover new functional materials in a…