Northern Africa

The off-grid solar sector has shown resilience in the face of pandemic-related challenges, with 70 million people gaining access to electricity from early 2020 to the end of 2021. However, the ability to pay for solar energy kits has taken a hit.

Researchers in Egypt have developed a synthesis method that uses the high microwave absorbance of silicon carbide content in rice straw ash and takes just 60 seconds to produce sodium iron phosphates-carbon nanocomposites (NaFePO4-C), which can be used as sodium ion battery cathodes and as symmetric supercapacitors.

Mining magnate Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue Future Industries continues its campaign to be one of the world’s largest clean energy companies, announcing plans to develop a 9.2 GW wind and solar facility in Egypt that will power green hydrogen production in the Arab republic.

The international development entity has already invested $1 billion in local, off-grid electricity networks over the last decade – and attracted a further $1.1 billion in matched funding – and wants to set up mini-grids to supply electricity to 490 million people by 2030.

An international research team has investigated how solar could be combined with thermoelectric coolers (TECs), which are small solid-state heat pumps used either for heating or for cooling. A system was built with six solar panels, an air duct system, four batteries, a charge controller, TECs, an inverter, heat sinks, a test chamber, and condenser fans.

While there are still many uncertainties as to the way in which hydrogen trade might evolve and change economic ties and political dynamics between countries, experts agree that green hydrogen can bring winds of change to the global energy arena. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, significant geoeconomic and geopolitical shifts are just around the corner.

A British-Egyptian research group has tested the use of hydrogels beads for PV module cooling. The micro-sized particles were saturated with aluminium oxide (Al2O3) water-based nanofluids and placed below the simulated PV panels. The experiment showed, according to the scientists, that the hydrogels beads were able to significantly reduce the temperature by between 17.9 and 16.3 degrees Celsius.

Large swaths of low-cost land: check. Lots of sun and wind: check. The ability to transport green hydrogen cost-effectively to energy importing economies: check. Then you’re in the race to become one of the “renewable energy superpowers” of the low-carbon economy. A growing number of countries are assessing their renewable resources and natural attributes and positioning themselves to become green hydrogen exporters. However, not all are created equal.

University of New South Wales researchers have published research disproving claims that the energy transition to large-scale wind and solar would hinder the global economy. The research, which ousts outdated and cherry-picked data while showing the economically salutary effects of renewables, comes as 500 UNSW staff face the axe due to the impact of Covid-19.

Scientists in Morocco have designed a new bifacial module with a cooling system, based on bifacial parabolic solar cells that are connected to each other via tubes for panel cooling. They are now patenting the tech, but have yet to manufacture an initial prototype.