“Optical Tweezers can benefit solar cell research” – Interview
pv magazine interviewed Ricardo Arias González, who holds a PhD in Physical Sciences and introduced the Optical Tweezers applied to biology in Spain. It is one of the tools of photonics for which Arthur Ashkin received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2018, together with Donna Strickland and Gérard Mourou.
Everwood Capital launches €300 million fund for unsubsidized solar in Spain
Unlike its three previous funds, which focused on plants in operation, the Spanish asset manager will raise €300 million for the construction of plants without subsidies.
PV Power Chile plans 118 MW of small solar parks
The Chilean subsidiary of the Czech Republic’s Solek Group and CarbonFree Chile SpA has signed a framework agreement for the development and construction of up to 118 MW of PV projects in Chile. These will have a power range of 3 MW to 9 MW, and will be developed under Chile’s PMGD Program for distributed generation.
Jinko supplies modules to Colombia’s largest PV project
The Chinese manufacturer will provide 250,000 monocrystalline modules for the 80 MW El Paso solar plant, which Enel is building in the Colombian department of Cesar. It is slated to be operational by the end of the year.
Spain: Enel builds 84.9 MW solar park, Barcelona launches own energy company
Spain’s Enel unit Endesa plans to invest €59 million in the construction of a 84.9 MW solar park in the town of Totana, in the southern region of Murcia. In other news, Catalonia is also seeking independence through energy. In this vein, Barcelona Energy, a public metropolitan electricity operator that will supply renewable electricity to the City Council and other municipal companies, as well as street lighting, began operations yesterday.
Germany, Italy and Chile are better positioned for grid-parity in DG, study says
The updated version of the “PV Grid Parity Monitor” (GPM) provides an analysis for the commercial DG segment in representative cities of five countries: Germany, Chile, Spain, Italy and Mexico. Germany, Chile and Italy are the countries where good proximity to grid-parity and regulations favoring self-consumption are best combined.
Chile: desalination project powered by 100 MW of solar gets initial financing
A solar powered water desalination project in Chile has received an initial investment of $500 million. Trends Industrial and Almar Water Solutions will carry out the ENAPAC (Energías y Aguas del Pacífico) project, which will be the largest desalination plant by reverse osmosis (SWRO) in Latin America, and the first large-scale desalinator powered with PV.
Greenbriar Capital secures financing for 100 MW of solar in Puerto Rico
The project is part of a 280 MW pipeline the Caribbean island is hoping to build in its effort to restore a safe and stable power supply to the population.
Soltec to launch world’s first bifacial tracking evaluation center
Spanish manufacturer of horizontal single-axis solar trackers Soltec, together with Black & Veatch and the Renewable Energy Test Center, have created a new evaluation center in Livermore, California. The inauguration will take place on July 9
Blockchain project Solar DAO will action its first PV plants, in Kazakhstan
The world’s first digital, autonomous, closed-end, utility-scale PV project investment fund – enabling people with any budget to become co-owners of projects – has announced the implementation of its first arrays, in Kazakhstan, with 4 MW in the north-west of the country and 4 MW in the south. Solar DAO says it will save about $50,000 per MW since total development costs will be less than $5,000 per MW.
