Asia

The Philippines Board of Investments (BOI) has granted a green lane certificate to a 65 MW ground-mount solar power plant, set to become operational in September 2026.

Data center specialist AirTrunk has signed a virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) under which it will procure energy from a 29.99 MW solar farm that ib vogt is now developing. Construction on the project is set to begin later this year.

Bluebird Solar has developed half-cut mono passivated emitter and rear contact (PERC) solar modules based on M10-sized cells. The modules are available with outputs ranging from 400 W to 550 W.

Oil and gas giant Woodside Energy has signed a deal with South Korean utilities major SK E&S to explore the potential development of a “lower-carbon” hydrogen value chain between Australia and South Korea.

Solar Philippines says it has broken ground on what it touted to be the world’s largest solar array – a 4 GW solar park spread across 3,500 hectares of land in the northern part of the country.

NTU Singapore researchers and startup EtaVolt have presented a high-intensity illumination device that can reportedly “patch up” the holes caused by light and heat in silicon solar cells. The new technique is claimed to reduce solar module degradation by up to five years and to be usable for about 90% of the solar modules available in the market.

A group of researchers in China has developed an energy management system for modular gravity storage. Compared to single block gravity storage, the modular counterpart offers more flexibility in output power, ease of mass production of related equipment and better flexibility in the selection of weights.

Solar developer Lightsource bp has declared that proceeds from the sale of five utility scale PV projects in Australia with a combined capacity of more than 1 GW will be used to fast track the development of a pipeline of projects across the wider Asia Pacific region.

Solar technology manufacturing heavyweight Trina Solar has secured conditional development approval from the New South Wales government for a 200 MW solar farm to be developed in the state’s southeast.

China’s solar industry rebounded in 2023 after years of pandemic-related sluggishness. As the year draws to a close, Vincent Shaw looks back at key highlights of 2023 and considers the prospects for 2024.