US utility scale solar powers through 2020
Big solar projects in the U.S. are back in style and growing in number.
New reports look at 2019 Arizona battery explosion
A series of failures triggered thermal runaway and an explosion at Arizona Public Service Electric’s McMicken battery facility, according to two new reports that look at how to prevent similar disasters in the future.
First-half solar funding fell by a quarter as Covid-19 bit
The latest PV finance report released by Mercom Capital had solar investment falling almost entirely across the board with the number of new solar funds launched in the last three months offering a rare piece of good news.
Historic-low interest rates will power ahead astonishing solar cost reductions
An Ieefa report has suggested the cost of generating electricity from solar will be near zero in the world’s sunniest regions by 2030-40 – despite what the naysayers at the International Energy Agency might think.
New manufacturing technique for 26%-efficient tandem perovskite solar cell
U.S. scientists have demonstrated a perovskite-silicon tandem cell they claim has low reflectance losses and strong potential for commercial production. The tandem architecture involves a manufacturing process featuring the solution-based blading of perovskites onto textured silicon wafers.
Greening greenhouses with organic PV
Semi-transparent organic solar cells can reduce the carbon footprint and raise the crop yield of greenhouses while acting as generators and insulation. Scientists in the U.S. say greenhouses equipped with organic cells could be energy self-sufficient year round in hot and moderate-humidity climates.
First Solar reaches $350m legal settlement with shareholders to halt 2012 lawsuit
The U.S. thin-film manufacturer continues to deny having misled stockholders over solar module defects between 2008 and 2012 and said the settlement had been reached to close the historic legal action and permit the company to remove the uncertainty associated with it.
The year in solar, part III: Battery breakthroughs, inverter trouble, sustainable role models and new tech
Storage has long been expected to be the handmaiden of a renewable energy world and its long awaited advances started to finally emerge in the third quarter as researchers posited R&D achievements ranging from potentially potent tungsten disulfide nanotubes to the business case for 10-year solar panels.
Hanergy: From thin-film solar savior to mass lay-offs at MiaSolé, Alta, Solibro and Global Solar
Unannounced lay-offs with no pay or benefits have left more than 600 American workers, 180 employees in Germany and thousands in China unemployed and in the dark. Some of those affected have told pv magazine their story.
Salt River Project joins big boys of battery storage
The Salt River Project has announced a 250 MW, 1,000 MWh battery project in Little Rainbow Valley, Arizona. The installation will be the largest in the state and among the largest in the United States.
