US solar project generates power for community-owned electricity suppliers
Leeward Renewable Energy has switched on the 100 MW Rabbitbrush solar array in California. It includes a 20 MW/50 MWh battery energy storage system and will sell electricity to two community-owned electricity suppliers under a 15-year power purchase agreement.
Heat pumps competitive with gas boilers in some markets, says IEA
Th International Energy Agency (IEA) says unsubsidized heat pumps are already competitive with gas boilers in mature markets like the United States, Canada, Japan, Italy, and China. It says global sales will soar to record levels by 2030.
Spain provides financial support for 600 MW of utility-scale storage
The Spanish government say it will finance five hybrid battery energy storage projects, with a cumulative installed capacity of at least 600 MW. Each project can secure up to €15 million ($15.68 million) in funding.
Rio Tinto to spend big on solar, storage
Rio Tinto plans to invest $402 million (AUD 600 million) to build two new solar farms and battery energy storage systems in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, as part of its efforts to decarbonize its iron ore operations.
Agrivoltaics to reduce water evaporation
Chinese scientists assessed water evaporation on plots of land covered by two different kinds of agrivoltaic arrays and managed to significantly reduce evaporation in both cases. They looked at the relationship between cumulative surface evaporation and evaporation time.
Novel method to calculate variations in temperature coefficients of solar modules
Brazilian scientists have assessed variations in temperature coefficients in solar modules to determine whether there is a relationship between the dependence of these coefficients and irradiance. They claim their work could be used to improve PV module performance modeling.
EDPR Sunseap testing solar floaters made of recycled plastic
PlasticBean, a manufacturer of recycled plastic pellets, has agreed to work with EDPR Sunseap to use 100% recycled plastic in floating PV solar projects in Indonesia, Singapore and South Korea.
Big solar already pulling its weight on emission reduction – especially in Chile
Following a disappointing COP27 climate change summit in November, solar industry veteran Philip Wolfe reviews the contribution utility-scale PV is starting to make to emissions reduction.
Germany installed 706.5 MW of solar in October
Germany added 6.1 GW of new PV systems in the first 10 months of 2022.
ACWA Power to deploy 1 GW of solar in Bangladesh
Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power is now seeking land to build 1 GW of solar projects in Bangladesh. It is negotiating power prices with the Bangladesh Power Development Board.
