Author: solarenergy

Alaska residents have access to community solar energy thanks to a new law. The federal government announces new efforts to protect residential solar customersWashington, DC The federal government has initiated a multi-agency effort to address predatory business practices in the residential solar industry. The U.S. Treasury Department, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Federal Trade Commission are encouraging consumers to file complaints, releasing new educational information for homeowners seeking solar energy quotes and more. DOE loan office backs Qcells with $1.45 billion for new solar panel factoryWashington, DC The Dept. Loan Programs Office of Energy announced a conditional commitment for a…

AI-powered process reveals chemical keys to solar energy advances Artificial intelligence has emerged as a transformative tool in research, but the inability to explain its decision-making process – often referred to as the “AI black box” – poses a significant challenge. However, an interdisciplinary research team from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has addressed this problem by integrating AI with automated chemical synthesis and experimental validation. Their efforts have uncovered the chemical principles that AI used to improve molecules designed for harvesting solar energy. The team’s approach resulted in light-trapping molecules that are four times more stable than the original…

This week, Women in Solar Europe (WiSEu) gives the voice to Laure-Aline Baheux, Power & Renewables BL Manager at Omexom – Vinci Energies. She says companies need to ask themselves why they need more women and consider the challenges of recruiting and retaining women. “It is essential to adapt the range of vacancies and career paths. For example, we recognize that women often only apply for jobs if they meet more qualifications than men,” she says. August 30, 2024 Women in Solar Europe (WiSEu)The renewable energy sector has been a journey of growth, learning and overcoming unique challenges. Unlike many…

Stäubli Electrical Connectors has introduced a new product family of large format PV cable connectors. The new BosCon connectors are fully cULus certified to UL 6703 and CSA C22.2 182.5, “Connectors for use in photovoltaic systems.” They are designed for carrying high current in harsh and outdoor environments in the PV power and EV industries. BosCon connectors are specifically designed for electrical balancing systems (eBOS), trunk cables, battery energy storage systems (BESS) and EV charging systems. “We designed the BosCon line to meet the need within the North American PV market to create large format cable connections, both as pre-made…

Swiss-based energy producer MET Group has completed construction of a 23.4 MW solar project in eastern Hungary. It will generate enough energy to power approximately 13,000 local homes and has a life expectancy of 30 years. August 30, 2024 Patrick Jowett MET Group has built its second solar power plant in Hungary, in the eastern city of Kaba.The MET Kaba II solar park is located next to the company’s first solar park in Hungary, which was commissioned in 2021. It has more than 33,000 solar panels spread over 31 hectares. This was stated by a spokesperson for the MET Group…

NASA’s Europa Clipper equipped with huge solar panels for the Jupiter mission NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft, the largest ever built for planetary exploration, is equipped with an array of giant solar panels at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. These arrays, each measuring approximately 14.2 meters in length and 4.1 meters in height, are the largest NASA has ever developed for a planetary mission. Their size is crucial to harness the maximum amount of sunlight as the spacecraft explores Jupiter’s icy moon Europa, which is five times further from the sun than Earth. Folded and secured for launch, when deployed…

From pv magazine 07-08Demand for lithium is increasing and pricing agency Benchmark Mineral Intelligence (BMI) expects a million-ton lithium materials market by 2024 and a compound annual growth rate of 15% through 2033.Analysts including BMI anticipate the onset of a lithium shortage around 2029, amid environmental and political concerns about the required expansion of lithium mining and processing and its concentration in a small number of countries.Lithium is largely produced via evaporation of brine in the open air – in the ‘lithium triangle’ of South America – or from hard rock mining, mainly in Australia. China, which processes that Australian…

Ingeteam announced that it has supplied central inverters for two Acciona Energy projects in Wharton and Fort Bend counties, just outside Houston, Texas. The first project, with a capacity of 317 MWACconsists of 48 transformer stations equipped with 185 central Ingeteam inverters. This is the first large-scale project that Ingeteam has installed and commissioned for Acciona Energy in the United States. The second project has a capacity of 458 MWAC and is equipped with 71 medium-voltage transformer stations of the Full Skid type, fully integrated with 131 INGECON SUN 3Power C-series central liquid cooling inverters. The contract between the two…

GCL Technology says its revenue reached CNY8.86 billion ($1.3 billion) in the first half of 2024, with a gross loss of CNY553 million, while Xinte Energy says it recorded CNY11.74 billion in revenue and a net loss of CNY 887.02 million for the first half of 2024. six months of the year. August 30, 2024 Vincent Shaw and Valerie Thompson GCL Technology Holdings said it generated CNY8.863 billion in revenue in the first half of 2024, with a gross loss of CNY553 million. The nominal capacity for granular silicon reached 420,000 tons per year, fully utilized. Granular silicon production increased…

New research from Switzerland shows that capex costs for PV projects in the Alps in Switzerland currently range between €2,231/kW and €4,182/KW for ground-mounted projects and up to €3,802/kW and €7,108/kW for wall-mounted and floating projects respectively. August 30, 2024 Emiliano BelliniScientists from Swiss research institute ETH Zurich have investigated the financial viability of PV projects in the Alps and found that the levelized energy cost (LCOE) ranges from €0.097 ($0.10)/kWh to 0.162/kWh.Their analysis was based on 6,561 scenarios with varying investment factors such as capital expenditure, irradiation levels, financing conditions, energy prices and details of the Swiss subsidy scheme.…