Author: solarenergy

Agri-food technology specialist N2OFF says it has entered the PV sector by lending €375,000 ($407,000) to Israeli PV developer Solterra Renewable Energy. The loan is part of a larger agreement of €500,000, with the remaining €125,000 to come from other parties. July 23, 2024 Lior Kahana Image: Chirayu Trivedi, UnsplashIsrael-based N2OFF said it is entering the PV sector by lending €375,000 to Israeli PV developer Solterra Renewable Energy. The loan is part of a larger plan of €500,000, in which other unspecified parties will provide the remaining €125,000.“Solterra currently operates in three primary target markets: Italy, Poland and Germany, and…

Today, the Biden-Harris Administration announced Energy Communities AmeriCorps, a new project that will engage 150 full-time AmeriCorps VISTA members to advance locally designed economic development, workforce readiness, and environmental remediation plans in energy communities while gaining skills and experience at good pay . jobs in clean energy and climate resilience. Building on the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to supporting coal communities, this innovative public-private partnership will invest nearly $8 million from federal agencies and philanthropic sources to help ensure a more equitable and prosperous future for the people of the world that have fueled the growth of our nation. This new…

China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) says the country installed 102.48 GW of new solar capacity in the first half of 2024, bringing the total installed solar capacity to about 710 GW. July 23, 2024 Vincent Shaw and Valerie ThompsonThe NEA said China installed 102.48 GW of new solar capacity in the first half of 2024. At the end of June, the country’s total solar capacity reached approximately 710 GW, an increase of 51.6% year-on-year. The total power generation capacity was approximately 3.07 TW, an increase of 14.1% compared to last year. Total installed wind energy capacity also grew to approximately…

The Department of Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources is accepting applications for the state’s additional New Solar Market Development Tax Credit program. This program is intended for New Mexico taxpayers who were denied a solar tax credit during the years 2020 through 2023 because the program’s funding was exhausted before they applied. “On behalf of New Mexico taxpayers who missed out on this tax credit through no fault of their own, we thank the Legislature and Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham for creating this additional fund,” said Rebecca “Puck” Stair, director of EMNRD’s Energy Conservation and Management Division (ECAM), which administers…

Renova has survived the rooftop solar changes in California by leaning into other service offerings and expanding regionally into Arizona. After this story went to print, Renova announced it was temporarily halting operations in California and Arizona as a result of partial investor SunPower’s financial struggles. Working as a residential solar installer in California has gone from a stable and reliable career path to one mired with uncertainty in the face of recent decisions by the state’s Public Utilities Commission. The new net-metering regime, NEM 3.0, drastically reduced the compensation for residents selling electricity back to the grid and has…

German researchers have developed a new way to release hydrogen from ammonia, while a new MIT study shows the need for strict emissions regulations on ammonia combustion for maritime mobility. July 23, 2024 Sergio MatalucciRuhr University Bochum Researchers have shown that multimetal catalysts integrated into gas diffusion electrodes (GDEs) can oxidize gaseous ammonia (NH3) to form mainly NO2-, a precursor to fertilizer, while avoiding the formation of N2. “To avoid the release of H2 in a reverse Haber-Bosch reaction, which releases the energetically more favorable N2, we propose the oxidation of ammonia to value-added nitrite (NO2-), which is commonly obtained…

Steve Newby’s path to entering the solar industry wasn’t one marked by high ambitions to green the grid. He worked for 25 years in oil and gas, with a decade of that time spent running Summit Midstream Partners, a company responsible for building multi-billion-dollar pipeline projects. Radiance Solar CEO Steve Newby entered the solar industry by acquiring PV contracting businesses, and is dabbling in manufacturing after purchasing solar carport company Quest Renewables.  Instead, Newby saw growth potential in solar, something he still considers to be a young industry. So, he formed Bravo Infrastructure Group, an investment firm, intending to acquire…

Trina Solar says it has begun evaluating possible violations of some of its patents for tunnel oxide passivated contact technology (TOPCon). One of the patents focuses on the number of rails and their width in TOPCon solar panels. July 23, 2024 Emiliano BelliniChinese solar module manufacturer Trina Solar is actively trying to determine whether other manufacturers are currently infringing on some of its patents for TOPCon solar cell technology.“According to Trina, it is necessary to create a fair ecosystem in which intellectual protection plays an important role,” Álvaro García-Maltrássaid Trina Solar’s general manager for Latin America and the Caribbean pv…

EneCoat Technologies, a Japanese solar perovskite developer, has raised JPY5.5 billion ($35 million) from new and existing investors to fund new collaborations based on its low-temperature manufacturing process. July 23, 2024 Valerie ThompsonEneCoat Technologies, a PV technology spin-off from Kyoto University, has announced plans to invest in a manufacturing facility and develop industrial collaborations. It will be funded by a JPY5.5 billion venture capital round that the company raised from a group of Japanese institutional and corporate venture capital funds.EneCoat is pursuing a range of applications for its thin-film perovskite technology, which it manufactures in a proprietary low-temperature deposition process,…

By pv magazine USAResidential solar panels are often sold with long-term loans or leases, with homeowners signing contracts of 20 years or longer. But how long do panels last and how resilient are they?The lifespan of panels depends on several factors, including climate, module type and racking system used. While there isn’t necessarily a specific “end date” for a panel, loss of production over time often causes equipment to be taken out of service.When deciding whether to run your panel for 20 to 30 years in the future, or looking for an upgrade at that point, monitoring output levels is…