Manufacturing

SA Water’s highly ambitious $300 million solar uptake is proving a golden goose as a partnership with Succession Ecology to revegetate almost a tonne of native seedlings under large-scale solar arrays proves a win-win. The ground-mounted modules mean native vegetation can return to formerly agricultural land, and the native scrub itself protects PV panels from soiling.

Danish researchers have shown that adding 250 W solar panels to all of the buggies in a 50-cart fleet is a profitable investment. With an upfront investment of around €75,000, annual benefits of around €15,000 are possible, they claim.

The module – which measures 2,411×1,134×35mm, weighs 31.1kg and features 156 p-type monocrystalline cells – is available in five versions with power outputs of 565-585 W and efficiencies of 20.67-21.40%. Jinko says the Pro Tiger series will become the company’s main revenue stream in 2022, surpassing the Tiger 475 W panel.

The amount of non-uniform shading an array will experience determines the technology choices that can be made. However, it can be complicated to formulate more general rules for when to use what type of technology. Most would agree that module-level power electronics are better at handling non-uniform shading, but how do they handle the sun? A recently promoted study brought the discussion into sharp relief.

The Korean company has committed to invest in solar innovation in Germany at a time when the EU and member states are desperately trying to kick-start the Covid-19 recovery.

Risen Australia and distributer One Stop Warehouse signed an expanded 150 MW distribution agreement last week, marking the Chinese module maker’s attempt to further expand its share of the rooftop market segment. With Risen’s new heterojunction (HJT) module, the 415-435 W Sieger, moving into mass production, One Stop Warehouse’s Leo Ye says that the “new, fresh” technology will be a welcome addition to the Australian rooftop market segment.

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has announced a major step forward in the West Murray Zone after it granted registration to one of the biggest solar farm in that troubled part of the grid.

The Chinese-Canadian company has unveiled a range of high-power modules which are set to go into mass production by early next year. The series includes a commercial and industrial rooftop-dedicated product offering a reported 405 W.

An international research group has developed a self-cooling PV system featuring a 250 W 60-cell polycrystalline module and a thermal collector attached to the back side of the panel. The cleaning tech is based on a microcontroller programmable integrated circuit, which controls a rotating DC motor.

New research from Wood Mackenzie shows that overall system costs for installations using mono PERC modules are set to fall by as much as 20% by 2025.