India

Hydrogen vehicle and fuel cell startup H2X has partnered with Indian automotive parts manufacturer and developer Advik Hi-Tech in a deal which will see the Australian company’s products delivered into India and the wider international market.

India’s production-linked incentive scheme for advance-chemistry battery cell production has received bids for 2.6 times more than the 50 GWh of manufacturing capacity it plans to allocate.

Wood Mackenzie has predicted solar equipment cost increases will ease back after last year saw the average cost of solar electricity rise for the first time in the Asia-Pacific region.

Reliance Industries said its solar unit will buy UK-based sodium-ion battery technology provider Faradion for GBP100 million (AUD$187 million) including debt, as the Indian conglomerate pushes forward with its ambitious plan to move into the renewable energy industry.

Gujarat-based solar manufacturer Solex plans to have 1 GW of cell and 3.7 GW of module capacity operational in 2023.

The International Energy Agency predicts that India will record the world’s fastest growth in energy consumption from buildings through 2040. The energy demand could create a big market for solar installers and equipment providers, particularly in the commercial and industrial sector. While building codes now include provisions for renewable energy integration, effective implementation will be key to ensuring compliance, reports Uma Gupta.

The Indian authorities have announced plans to provide more funding to help more manufacturers under its production-linked incentives scheme, which is designed to support gigawatt-scale manufacturing of high-efficiency solar modules.

The International Solar Alliance and the U.K. authorities are leading a global super-grid program that seeks to connect 140 countries to round-the-clock renewable power.

Scientists in India developed a mathematical model to predict the output of solar cells and modules in the field. The model was developed and tested using both sun simulator and actual installed modules. The scientists state that their model can be applied to a PV installation anywhere in the world, and that by taking into account module degradation over time their forecasts can be as much as 26% more accurate than existing energy yield models.

An Indian research group has used three different chemicals instead of commonly used hydrofluoric acid to separate silicon from the cell. The technique is claimed to be able to deliver recycled silicon with a purity of up to 99.9984%.