Asia

Qcells says it is building a pilot line for perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells that will start operations later this year in South Korea. It is working closely with its team in Germany, where it has already established another pilot line for tandem cells.

Sharp’s new IEC61215- and IEC61730-certified solar panel offers a power conversion efficiency of 22.07% and a bifaciality of more than 80%. The operating temperature coefficient is -0.30% per C and its power tolerance is 5%.

The Vietnamese government has announced a USD 135 billion ($200 billion) energy strategy, with half of the country’s residential rooftops to be equipped with PV systems under a net-metering scheme. The nation also aims to become a power exporter by the end of the decade.

The Indian solar sector experienced major shifts in market share during 2022, driven by policy changes such as the implementation of basic customs duty on cells and modules and the introduction of an approved list of models and manufacturers, according to Mercom.

An influential Australian union will propose a “significant, punitive tax” on the export of raw critical minerals as a means of promoting more value-adding onshore. The news comes as longstanding trade allies voice criticism over Australia’s growing momentum towards domestic manufacturing.

India will use its internal market to scale up hydrogen projects, with Germany as a possible export destination. As part of a broader strategy, the countries will collaborate on a financial and technological level on energy transition projects.

Coal-dependent Indonesia has huge solar potential but progress toward a net zero economy has been sluggish, explain Daniel Kurniawan and Fabby Tumiwa from the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR), an Indonesian thinktank.

The Malaysian government is developing a new strategy to expand renewable energy use in the country and also boost the domestic renewable energy industry.

Battery companies hoping to get a foothold in Australia’s rapidly growing storage market were the main exhibitors at the Smart Energy Conference held in Sydney last week, outnumbering solar companies almost two-to-one. Pv magazine Australia looked at what is on offer and who the new hopefuls in the battery space are.

While Australia’s home battery market seems to have attracted most of the interest from newcomers, there has been some significant new developments in the commercial and utility-scale space. Pv magazine Australia examined the new products and companies in the commercial and utility battery storage space on display at the Smart Energy Conference.