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New Zealand looks set to join the countries tapping into floating solar worldwide via a new, city-based scheme, sponsored by a utility duo.

Developer 8minute’s groundbreaking solar project is caught up in a disagreement over the city’s clean energy transition.

The 100-megawatt club is about to get a lot busier. Here are the world’s eight largest battery storage projects.

The Hong Kong manufacturer is holding out hope a boom that is expected to start imminently will help it turnaround losses that forced it to issue a profit warning last week. Getting its new production line in Qujing up to speed will help, provided the demand materializes.

Already active through subsidiary Fenix International and start-up Engie PowerCorner, the French energy giant is expanding further by acquiring Mobisol, an off-grid systems specialist with operations in Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda.

An increasing number of carmakers and research institutes are developing concepts that combine e-mobility and solar. Thus far, range additions from in-car panels of between 10 and 60km are the limit of innovation. The Fraunhofer roof is tinted with a color that hides the cells but lets through most of the light.

Scientists at the institution have achieved 21.6% efficiency with a perovskite cell measuring 1cm². The landmark has been verified as a new world record for perovskites at this size.

The state plans to achieve half the amount by 2021-22 under its new draft solar policy. The package also suggests establishing a research hub, privately financed solar parks and encouraging commercial self-consumption of clean energy.

The tender produced lower bids than previous rounds but again allocated less generation capacity than planned. The Japanese government initially accepted bids for a combined 589.9 MW but ended up assigning only 195.8 MW of capacity. The final average price for procured solar power was $0.1222/kWh.

Another study has highlighted the advantages of combining solar with agriculture. According to the paper, growing chiltepin pepper, jalapeno and cherry tomato in dryland areas of the U.S. under the shade of PV modules is not only possible, but can lead to a better harvest.

pv magazine publisher Eckhart Gouras spoke to Carolina Obando, regulatory coordinator at renewable energy association SER Colombia, to discuss the country’s first renewable energy auction. The delayed tender promises to boost a solar industry with a 4.3 GW pipeline.

A new coating developed by scientists at Stanford promises to bring lithium metal batteries ‘closer to reality’, by significantly extending their operational lifetime and limiting the occurrence of dendrites at the anode, which can cause short circuiting and fires.

Demand for systems with a generation capacity of up to 750 kW is driving the market. The 52 GW capacity cap for solar under the national FIT scheme is approaching. In September, feed-in tariffs and market premiums will fall a further 1.4%.

The levelized cost of energy produced by large scale PV projects ranges from €24/MWh in southern Spain to €42/MWh in Finland. New research states that is already cheaper than the average spot market electricity price and that the figure for big facilities in southern Spain may fall to €14 in 2030 and €9 in 2050.

Mathematicians at Canada’s University of Waterloo who turned their attention to solar power have developed an algorithm they say offers better control over PV plant output. The researchers estimate the algorithm could improve the output of a 100 MW power plant by almost a million kilowatt-hours per year.