Powin, BlackRock start working on world’s largest battery
US battery specialist Powin and US investment firm BlackRock have started work on a 909 MW/1,915 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) in Australia. Construction is set to begin in 2023 and will finish by mid-2025.
China Brief: SNEC postponed to May
SNEC, the world’s biggest solar event, has been postponed for the third time this year. Yingfa Group, meanwhile, inaugurated a 20 GW cell factory in Sichuan province and GCL Tech said it plans to produce raw materials for EV batteries.
North Sea offshore floating solar project secures funding
A Dutch offshore floating solar consortium has obtained €7.8 million ($8.07 million) to test and develop a solar platform at an offshore wind farm in the North Sea. The 500 kW pilot project is expected to wrap up testing and monitoring by the end of 2024.
Eni, Sonatrach start building 10 MW solar array in Algeria
Italy’s Eni and Algeria’s Sonatrach have started building a 10 MW solar project in Algeria. The oil giants also inaugurated a solar lab to test the efficiency of different PV technologies under local irradiation conditions.
PV Hardware opens new solar tracker factory in Saudi Arabia
PV Hardware (PVH), a solar tracker and mounting systems manufacturer, has opened a new factory in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It is expected to produce 8 GW of trackers and solar structures per year, mainly for projects in the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
Taiwanese consortium develops easily recyclable solar module
The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and United Renewable Energy (URE) have developed a solar panel that can be easily dismantled to simplify the recycling process. They claim that 96% of the materials in the panel can be recovered, including all of the solar cells and front glass.
Assessment of hydrogen-induced contact resistance in TOPCon solar cells
Researchers have looked at how hydrogen-induced contact resistance could help to reduce changes in series resistance, in either TOPCon or PERC solar cells. They said degradation occurs purely at the n-type silicon-to-silver (Ag) contact on both cell architectures.
Denmark, Sweden, Finland could add 12.8 GW of solar by 2030
The Nordic region is set to become a European renewables powerhouse, according to Rystad Energy. It says Finland, Sweden and Denmark could collectively install up to 12.8 GW of new solar by 2030.
Sun-tracking floating solar islands from Portugal
Portugal-based Solaris Float has developed a swiveling floating solar platform with one- or two-axis tracking. It has installed its first project on a lake in the Netherlands. The project consists of 130 PV modules on a single-axis tracker, with an installed capacity of 50.7 kW.
Chinese PV Industry Brief: Golden Solar, Boamax announce new module factories
Golden Solar has unveiled a plan to set up a new 1.5 GW production line for heterojunction products in the Zhangjiakou Renewable Energy Demonstration Zone. Boamax, meanwhile, said it wants to set up an 18 GW panel factory in Inner Mongolia.
