Commercial & Industrial PV

India installed 13,956 MW of solar between January and December 2022. This included 11.3 GW of utility-scale PV, about 1.9 GW of rooftop solar, and nearly 700 MW of off-grid/distributed capacity.

Berlin-based Boreal Light has developed water desalination tech powered by PV for off-grid applications. The solution uses 460 W solar panels from Chinese module manufacturer DAH Solar and produces clean water from direct seawater at a cost of €0.50 ($0.78)/m3.

Before Puerto Rico had a chance to recover from Hurricane Maria, in 2017, it was rocked by earthquakes and then, in September 2022, the island was struck again – this time by Hurricane Fiona. These disasters severely impacted Puerto Rico’s infamously fragile power grid, but have emboldened local communities to take power into their own hands through solar and battery storage, and increasingly in the form of microgrids. Compelled by catastrophic circumstances, Puerto Rico must now push toward energy resilience and in the process may see itself become a model not just for other islands, but mainland grids as well.

A recently published report from the International Energy Agency’s Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme on building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) digitalisation found many industry professionals are unsure of a suitable method for estimating shading in BIPV projects.

Australian software company OpenSolar plans to speed the development of its free online solar design and sales platform and drive customer expansion globally after securing a funding injection of more than $22 million (USD 15 million).

A the newly operational electric bus depot in Sydney’s west illustrates the infrastructure required to run an electric bus fleet, but also demonstrates that an electric bus fleet requires less charging than originally forecast.

Researchers in South African have developed a new cleaning system for solar panels that uses a colour-sensing light-to-frequency converter to detect dirt. It can reportedly remove about 95% of the dust from a PV panel in less than a minute, at a lower cost than other systems.

Boundary Power, a union between West Australian standalone power system (SAPS) leader Horizon Power and Ampcontrol, has installed its first off-grid system for an unnamed east coast utility in regional New South Wales.

Chinese PV technology manufacturer Trina Solar has launched an upgraded version of its Vertex S All Black module featuring an increased output of about 30 W hoping to capture a significant portion of Australia’s growing residential and commercial solar market.

Ibis Power has developed a rooftop system that combines solar with wind turbines designed for medium-sized structures and high-rise buildings. It claims its PowerNEST system can produce six to 10 times more energy than standalone rooftop solar. The company has already installed five projects in the Netherlands.