Saudi Arabia

Scientists from Saudi Arabia have proposed a new PV panel cooling technique which employs an atmospheric water harvester. The device uses waste heat from the PV panel to collect atmospheric water at night and then releases it during the day to cool down the module. The researchers claim the device may also be improved to produce liquid water, which could be used for the cleaning of the modules.

German production equipment provider Schmid and Saudi chemical group Sabic are planning to begin activities at a new factory in Saudi Arabia, with production being expected to begin in 2021.

The losers in a world which no longer runs on fossil fuels are obvious but the dividend from shrugging off hydrocarbon dependency will be spread around most of the world so it is the nations which are winning the cleantech manufacturing and intellectual property race which appear best positioned for the future.

The shortlisted developers are EDF, Total, ACWA Power, Masdar, First Solar, Marubeni, and Al Blagha Holding.

While the world’s climate negotiators dither, the post Covid-19 world could see their efforts overtaken – but only if policymakers are bold enough to take the opportunity to offer truly green fiscal stimulus packages to get us through the crisis. Felicia Jackson, from the center for sustainable finance of the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, gives her thoughts here.

The Renewable Energy Project Development Office has prequalified 49 developers for the tender. Four large-scale solar projects will be built via the procurement exercise.

The device exhibited a small performance loss after a 400-hour thermal stability test at 85 degrees Celsius and after the same period under maximum power point tracking at 40 degrees Celsius, according to its developer. The cell was made by combining solution-processed, micrometer-thick perovskite top cells with fully-textured silicon heterojunction bottom cells.

The government has signed a memorandum of understanding with Saudi energy company ACWA Power to conduct a feasibility study for an unspecified volume of renewables-powered desalination projects.

Saudi researchers have developed a cell which is said to exhibit improved structural and optoelectronic properties as well as enhanced carrier mobility and diffusion lengths. The feat was achieved by reducing voltage losses using a new passivation technique.

Saudi researchers claim to have improved the thermal stability and moisture resistance of such devices by replacing 3D hybrid perovskite with two-dimensional compounds. They used organic compound ethanolamine, which is said to provide better results in slowing down the hot-carrier cooling process.