Highlights

Developer rPlus Hydro has submitted an application for a final license to the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for the Seminoe project– a milestone reached by only a few pumped storage projects over the last 20 years.

UK scientists have discovered that second-life batteries could provide a lower levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) than conventional batteries in school buildings equipped with PV in East African schools. They said the cheapest system configuration uses either 7.5 kW or 10 kW of solar with 20 kWh of storage.

This year’s edition of Solar Quality Summit Europe started on Jan. 24 in Barcelona, Spain. With Europe set to hit record solar installations in the coming years, industry stakeholders discussed how to do that quickly. Digitalization, monitoring, revamping, and technology audits were all on the agenda.

Chigozie Nweke-Eze is an economist, geographer and founder of Integrated Africa Power. He sat down with pv magazine to discuss green hydrogen development in Africa, from the project pipeline to the necessity of “additionality” when it comes to ensuring hydrogen doesn’t become yet another exploited African resource.

Researchers say that lightweight, high-performance perovskite solar modules could soon become competitive with crystalline PV modules in the residential segment, as such products will likely have lower manufacturing and balance-of-system costs in the future.

Turkey has released a hydrogen roadmap as part of its plans to meet its 2035 net-zero emission targets, hinging on solar energy and importing electrolysis technologies in the short term. Gulmira Rzayeva, research fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, says this target is realistic.

Chanda Nxumalo, the chairperson of the South African Photovoltaic Industry Association (SAPVIA), speaks with pv magazine about the prospects of the South African energy market, its new regulations and the bright future for the PV sector. Nxumalo also addresses the challenges and opportunities for battery storage, green hydrogen and women in renewables.

French specialist Sun’Agri unveiled the agronomic results on a crop of eggplant grown in a greenhouse commissioned in the Lot-et-Garonne in September, 2020.

Antora Energy says its new 2 MW factory will make thermophotovoltaic cells for thermal storage applications. The cells are based on III-V semiconductors and reportedly have a heat-to-electricity conversion efficiency of more than 40%.

Sweden’s cumulative installed solar capacity hit 2.6 GW at the end of December.