Author: solarenergy
Thai researchers developed three blends of organic phase change material (PCM) with nanoparticles to cool PV modules and improve efficiency. They used lauric acid mixed with aluminum oxide, copper oxide and magnesium oxide in an optimal weight ratio of 94:6, increasing module efficiency by as much as 14.11%. December 12, 2024 Lior Kahana Scientists in Thailand have analyzed three blends of organic phase change material (PCM) with nanoparticles to cool PV modules and increase efficiency. They used the organic fatty acid lauric acid (LA) and mixed it with aluminum oxide (Al2O3), copper oxide (CuO) and magnesium oxide (MgO) in an…
The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) is unveiling a comprehensive policy agenda for President Trump and the 119th Congress to ensure the United States is the world’s dominant solar and storage market. This policy agenda calls for strengthening the solar and storage industries as part of a broad strategy to achieve American energy independence and security. It calls for eliminating dependence on China for solar energy and storage components and continuing the sustained increase in manufacturing investment. “Solar energy is critical to meeting America’s growing electricity needs and providing power for manufacturing, data centers, cryptocurrency and AI,” said Abigail Ross…
Battery storage investments within Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM) are becoming increasingly profitable due to higher energy price volatility and changing market dynamics, according to the latest report from Wood Mackenzie. In the future, storage systems with a storage duration of four hours are expected to provide the fastest return on investment. December 12, 2024 Marija Maisch By ESS news Australia’s vast pipeline of battery energy storage projects is eyeing improved profitability after years of uncertainty, with four-hour battery energy storage systems in part of the NEM able to achieve expected internal rates of return of up to 15%. These…
Installations for the scheme will begin in January 2025. Image: Hackney Council. The London Borough of Hackney has unveiled a new solar system that will help council tenants save money on their energy bills. From January 2025, a total of 4,000 solar panels will be installed in 28 blocks across three of Hackney Council’s residential areas, giving 800 households the opportunity to benefit from cleaner and greener energy. In what the local government says is the first scheme of its kind, Emergent Energy has developed an innovative microgrid solution, allowing residents of the blocks with solar panels to purchase power…
New research from China shows that using rigid connectors instead of polyester cables in floating photovoltaic installations can help reduce the relative movement of floats and simplify the layout of the connection system. December 12, 2024 Lior Kahana Researchers from China’s Harbin Engineering University have investigated the use of rigid single-rod connectors in floating PV installations and found that these connectors offer a range of advantages over polyester cables. The research group performed several numerical simulations on different sizes of floating PV systems, different rod lengths and different degrees of freedom of movement. “Currently, many FPV floats are connected using…
Storage units with a capacity of more than 50 MW are normally licensed, meaning that until now they have not been allowed to set their production or consumption status in the way that smaller units can. Image: Alexon. Elexon has amended the Balancing and Settlement Code (BSC) rules to reduce the financial exposure of large energy storage facilities. The BSC establishes rules for trading in electricity and guaranteeing the stability of supply. It prescribes that each balancing mechanism unit (BMU) must have a production or a consumption status to ensure accurate allocation of energy flows. Production means that a storage…
The five-year MaNiTU project, involving six Fraunhofer Institutes, included a series of studies on the life cycle of perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells. It involved the development of a scalable solar cell with an energy conversion efficiency of 31.6%. December 12, 2024 Patrick Jowett Germany Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE has shared the results of its five-year lighthouse project MaNiTU. The project, which involved six Fraunhofer institutes, worked on identifying the most sustainable pathways for the market introduction of perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells. The researchers produced new materials with perovskite crystal structures and compared them with existing materials at…
Renewable energy developer OX2 has received a €73 million ($76.8 million) financing package from bank Nord/LB for a 100 MW solar farm currently under development in southwestern Poland. December 11, 2024 Patrick Jowett Image: Vladisla Bogutski, Unsplash Stockholm-based renewable energy developer OX2 has secured a €73 million financing deal from German energy transition bank Nord/LB for a 100 MW solar park in Poland. The Rutki solar panel in southwestern Poland is OX2’s first project in the country. It is already under construction and expected to be operational in 2025, when 145,000 ground-mounted solar panels will generate enough electricity to power…
Enphase announced the first shipments of IQ8X microinverters and IQ8P-3P commercial microinverters, delivered from manufacturing facilities in the United States with higher domestic content than previous models. The microinverters have SKUs with the suffix ‘DOM’, which indicates a larger amount of domestic content. Enphase announced in July 2024 that certain IQ8 microinverters, when combined with other U.S.-made solar equipment, could qualify for the domestic content tax credit under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). With the new IQ8 microinverters having more components manufactured in the United States, less additional U.S. solar equipment is required to meet current domestic content bonus requirements.…
A new report from the United States Studies Center (USSC), a joint venture of the American Australian Association and the University of Sydney, encourages Australia to participate deeply in global solar supply chains and reduce its dependence on China . December 12, 2024 Ev Foley By pv magazine Australia A new report from the USSC examines the feasibility of solar panel manufacturing in Australia. The research was funded by the Australian and Japanese governments, in addition to US corporate and military interests. The report said that the solar energy supply chain is currently over-concentrated in China and Australia’s efforts to…