Technology

A consortium of Singaporean universities and companies will study the feasibility of integrating a hybrid floating solar project with ocean, tidal, and wind capacity. If successful, the parties plan to deploy a pilot system with at least 100 MW of renewables capacity.

Set to land on Australian shores in Dec. 2022, German solar panel manufacturer AE Solar has modified a panel to meet the continent’s particular stress factors, including our far higher temperatures, UV doses and humidity. “Since we think it’s a kind of localised, or environmentally adapted module, we think it can be a selling factor for this particular line,” AE Solar’s Head of R&D, Dr Hamed Hanifi, told pv magazine Australia during Melbourne’s All Energy conference last week.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has published its “World Energy Outlook 2022” report. It expects the energy crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to accelerate the global energy transition.

While near neighbours, the electricity generation of the countries of Southeast Asia couldn’t be further apart. Indonesia burns locally mined coal, Malaysia has reserves of oil and gas, while populous Singapore, Vietnam, and the Philippines, depend on fossil fuel imports. They could all benefit from increased solar imports, but higher grid capacities and interconnection are key for an opportunity to unlock the power of the sun.

New releases, a confluence of auspicious milestones, and output growing by gigawatts gave Trina Solar in Australia cause to celebrate at All-Energy this week.

Swiss energy storage company Energy Vault has been awarded the contract to supply the in development 330 MW Meadow Creek Solar Farm in Victoria with a 250 MW/500 MWh battery energy storage system.

A US research team claims to have demonstrated that increasing the spacing of solar panels between rows improves PV system efficiency and economics by allowing airflow to cool down the modules. The method could improve a project’s LCOE by as much as 2.15% in certain climates.

Singapore-based Sun Cable, which is seeking to develop the giant Australia-Asia PowerLink (AAPowerLink) consisting of up to 20 GW of solar and 42 GWh of energy storage on a 12,000-hectare site in the Northern Territory, is forming a consortium to advance sustainable smart energy grids in Asia.

The Cassiopeia solar project aims to use the sunlight collected by a space satellite for terrestrial energy needs. The electricity generated would be converted to radio frequency microwave radiation transmitted to an antenna on Earth. The initial LCOE would be $73.4 (USD 47.8)/MWh, according to a UK study.

A Swedish team has inaugurated a pilot facility to mass produce algae material that can potentially boost silicon solar module efficiency by 4% and thin film by 36%. The algae are added to the encapsulant in silicon-based modules or to the anti-reflective coating on the glass of thin film modules. The team estimates the resulting modules would be 3.9% cheaper.