‘Huge subsidy fest’: Australia has the critical materials, but can it compete in the manufacturing race?
A global race is underway to capture the manufacturing market for clean energy technologies. While lady lucky has certainly shone on Australia, competition is fierce, experts say.
Agrivoltaics can mitigate effects of drought
A new study by the University of Hohenheim shows that shading from PV systems can improve agricultural yields, especially in dry periods, but additional research is needed.
Energy majors dominate list of world’s leading big PV developers
Wiki-Solar’s latest league table of utility-scale solar project developers shows that only six renewable specialists occupy the top 20 spots.
Weekend read: the cells of the future
The annual SiliconPV Conference came to TU Delft in the Netherlands in April, and offered an important health check for the science and technology behind solar energy. pv magazine was on site to hear the latest from researchers reaching for higher efficiency through tandem cells and other innovations; looking to understand and mitigate cell degradation mechanisms; and working to cut down solar technology’s consumption of rare and expensive materials.
Chinese solar exports rose by 64% in 2022, says Wood Mackenzie
China exported 154 GW of PV modules, 24 GW of solar cells, and 41 GW of wafers in 2022. In 2026, annual cell and wafer exports could hit 230 GW and module shipments could reach 149 GW, according to Wood Mackenzie.
NASA makes unusual discovery while testing perovskite solar cells in space
US space agency NASA has discovered that perovskite solar cells tested in space exhibit less degradation than reference devices tested on Earth. The agency acknowledged that it is uncertain about the specific factors in the space environment that contributed to the superior performance of the perovskite absorber film.
Sungrow unveils power optimiser for rooftop PV systems
Sungrow’s new power optimiser has a rated input power of 600 W, a maximum efficiency rating of 99.4%, and a weighted efficiency of 98.8%. It can accommodate up to 30 modules per string.
PV Module Reliability Scorecard released by PVEL
2023 Scorecard names 250 types of solar modules from 35 manufacturers as Top Performers.
Researchers assess degradation in PV systems older than 15 years
Scientists have used the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL) HOMER software to calculate the degradation of solar panels deployed in two rooftop PV systems operating in Germany since 2003. Their calculations focused on the energy productivity of the systems.
New model to assess levelised cost of hydrogen in PV-powered electrolysis
Scientists in Singapore have developed a methodology to calculate the levelised cost of hydrogen in green hydrogen facilities powered by photovoltaics, emphasising the need for a levelised cost of storage (LCOH) below USD 10/kg ($15/kg) to enable green hydrogen to compete with grey, blue, and orange hydrogen in the current technology landscape.
