Chinese PV Industry Brief: January-May solar curtailment rate hits 3.3%
China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) says that nationwide solar curtailment reached 3.3% in the January-May period, and 2.5% in May alone.
French startup unveils ‘low-carbon’ anodized aluminum solar carport
KparK Énergies says its low-carbon Carport Solaire Aluminium system and comes equipped with solar panels, microinverters, virtual batteries, and charging stations for electric vehicles.
PV market eyes recovery amid falling module prices
Martin Schachinger, founder of pvXchange.com, says that solar module prices are falling across the board, while batteries and inverters are hitting historically low prices due to market oversupply.
France’s Carbon choses locations for R&D center
Carbon, a French PV module maker, says it will invests €33 million ($35.4 million) in a new R&D center.
Photovoltaics for hydroponic greenhouses
Researchers in Iran have investigated the operation of a real solar-powered greenhouse in the Alborz province and have found that only 4% of the greenhouse’s roof needs to be covered with PV modules to meet demand for lighting and pumping water.
Fraunhofer develops tandem module for direct hydrogen production
Three Fraunhofer institutes in Germany have developed a tandem module for direct hydrogen production, as a modular, flexible alternative to large electrolyzers. PV is an additional power supply.
KAUST builds perovskite-perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell with 31.5% efficiency
The Saudi research institute said its new four-terminal tandem device has achieved the highest efficiency ever reported for perovskite-based 4-T and triple-junction tandem solar cells to date. The key feature of the cell is the hole transport layer of the top perovskite cell, which was engineered with self-assembled monolayers.
CSIRO partners with Google to prototype grid-forming inverters
Scientists from Australia’s national science agency and the electricity research and development arm of Google have developed a new ‘smart’ inverter they claim is almost twice as fast and about 50% more efficient than existing commercial inverters.
Belgian wildlife park hosts world’s largest wooden solar carport
Belgian energy company Perpetum Energy has built a 40 MW solar carport at Pairi Daiza, a privately owned zoo and botanical garden in Hainaut, Belgium. It said the total investment reached €40 million ($43 million) investment.
Udinese Calcio builds 1.1 MW PV system on stadium in Italy
Bluenergy is developing a 1.1 MW PV system on Udinese Calcio’s football stadium in Italy. The company said the project might include a 300 kW battery.
