News

The bearable lightness of solar
The weight of a thin-film rooftop PV installation at Netherlands football club AZ Alkmaar has been highlighted in media reports as a possible cause of a stadium roof collapse. However, a full investigation is yet to be launched and one German specialist said studies have shown flush-mount PV panels do not increase static wind loads on rooftops.
Aug 12, 2019 // BIPV, Technology, Germany, rooftop, Netherlands, AZ Alkmaar’s stadium, Andries Broersma, Hanergy system, Thorsten Kray
Ethiopia aims to set up formula for the calculation of mini-grid tariffs
Ethiopia is currently trying to set up a methodology for the calculation of electricity tariffs for mini-grid systems. Should the government’s work come to fruition, it can provide much-needed certainty to mini-grid investors.
Aug 12, 2019 // Grids, Tariffs, mini-grid systems, Ethiopia, Africa, Hizkyas Dufera, Scaling Solar
Flanders provides incentives for residential storage
Since the beginning of August the Flemish government has granted a €250/kWh rebate for the purchase of domestic batteries. The program is set to run until the end of next year.
Aug 12, 2019 // Markets & Finance News, Storage, Europe, domestic batteries, Flanders, Belgium, Engie-Electrabel, Lydia Peeters
Vattenfall to build large scale wind-solar-storage plant in the Netherlands
The energy company will build a 38 MW solar, 22 MW wind and 12 MW battery project on one site. The first fully renewable hybrid power plant could be a blueprint for post-subsidy Germany. Vattenfall has an eye on German coalfields in particular.
Aug 12, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Storage, storage, Germany, Netherlands, hybrid power plant, wind-solar-storage, Vattenfall, Haringvliet Zuid Energy Park, ground-mounted, Claus Wattendrup
Car industry copper demand to surge 250% due to EVs
By considering use of the metal in charging infrastructure, analyst Wood Mackenzie has found higher demand from the mobility sector than is the case if only the volume of the material required for vehicle construction is examined.
Aug 12, 2019 // Technology, Transport, Wood Mackenzie, Global electric vehicle, UBS Evidence Lab, Henry Salisbury, Aluminum, ads-tec GmbH, HPC Booster, battery
PV system prices fell 8.9% in Brazil in the first six months of the year
The cumulative capacity of 5 MW-or-smaller solar systems has reached 958 MW in Brazil, according to consultancy Greener. Around a third of that capacity was installed in the first half of this year, with projects relying on half-cell and PERC modules making up the largest share.
Aug 12, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Inverters, South america, Brazil, Greener, PV system prices, PERC modules, Polycrystalline modules, ANEEL
Deutsche Bank attempts to wind up Singyes Solar
The German lender has issued a winding up petition over a $6.27 million debt and could scupper the manufacturer’s plans to restructure its defaulted payments and be taken over by a Chinese state-backed entity.
Aug 12, 2019 // Manufacturing News, Plants, Markets & Finance News, Singyes Solar, Germany, Hong Kong, Deutsche Bank AG, Water Development HK, Comtec Solar
New US study finds renewable energy storage costs need to drop 90%
Researchers in the US have published a study that brings 20 years of renewable energy (solar PV and/or wind plus storage) generation into line with historical energy-demand profiles, to ascertain at what storage cost point renewables can cost-effectively consistently meet 100% demand.
Aug 12, 2019 // Technology, Storage, Tariffs, USA, storage, solar pv, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, BESS, PHES, CAES, Jessika Trancik
Agrivoltaics good for agriculture and panel efficiency
A U.S. research team has found the most efficient locations for agrivoltaics include western America, southern Africa and the Middle East. The researchers found crop land, grasslands and wetlands were the best environments for PV projects linked to agriculture. Conditions suitable for crops are ideal for improving solar module efficiency.
Aug 12, 2019 // Technology, USA, Japan, PV panels, plants, Netherlands, Oregon State University, agrivoltaics
Oman launches tender for 146 MW of solar-diesel-storage projects
The Rural Areas Electricity Company wants to build hybrid plants in 11 non-interconnected areas of the sultanate. The projects will have a total of 48 MW of solar power generation capacity and 70 MW of diesel and the storage component will have total installed power of 28 MW and a storage capacity of 14 MWh.
Aug 12, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Storage, storage, tender, plants, Asia, Rural Areas Electricity Company, Tanweer, Oman Power and Water Procurement Company, United Arab Emirates
The weekend read: Perovskites step out of the labs
Michael van der Gugten, Sales and Marketing Executive at Smit Thermal Solutions, is convinced that perovskite solar cells have reached maturity, and that they are ready to make the step from the lab to production. He is leading the organization of a conference on this topic and expects that the perovskite community, production equipment suppliers and crystalline silicon cell manufacturers will discuss the implementation of perovskite-silicon tandem cells or the production of standalone perovskite modules.
Aug 12, 2019 // Technology, Manufacturing News, Opinions, Solar to Fuel, China, Asia, hydrogen, Michael van der Gugten, Smit Thermal Solutions, ALD, OPV, Solar to Fuel, Solar to Hydrogen, Producing Hydrogen, Hydrogen from renewable, Renewable fuels
Ib Vogt kickstarts EPC work for Aussie solar-plus-storage project
German EPC Ib vogt has started construction on a utility-scale project in Australia’s New South Wales (NSW).
Aug 12, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Grids, EPC, Australia, solar pv, plants, solar-plus-storage, ib vogt, new south wales
Sonnedix breaks ground on 171MW PV plant in Chile’s Atacama
Sonnedix has marked the launch of construction works for a large-scale solar installation in Chile’s Atacama desert, with a view to power up the plant late next year.
Aug 12, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Grids, IPP, Sonnedix, Chile, solar pv, utility-scale PV, plants, South america, Latin america, ground-breaking, atacama, atacama desert
US industry acts to unblock disputed 584MW solar pipeline
A dispute holding up a solar project backlog of nearly 600MW in Michigan is now one step closer to resolution, under a truce brokered with the help of industry representatives.
Aug 12, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Markets & Finance News, Storage, Policy, USA, SEIA, ITC, solar-plus-storage, Michigan, MPSC, Jimmy Carter, interconnection, ssfa19
UK post-subsidy solar pipeline swells to 5GW
The UK’s post-subsidy large-scale solar pipeline has swelled to more than 5GW after a flurry of activity in the first half of 2019.
Aug 12, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, UK, Europe, post-subsidy solar, ground-mount, PERC panels, multi panels