Weekend read: Navigating hailstorms
Owners and insurers suffered record hail losses in 2022. John Sedgwick, president of engineering advisory VDE Americas, provides some pro tips for mitigating such risks.
Big solar already pulling its weight on emission reduction – especially in Chile
Following a disappointing COP27 climate change summit in November, solar industry veteran Philip Wolfe reviews the contribution utility-scale PV is starting to make to emissions reduction.
Forced labor act is last barrier to US solar rebound, claims executive
Texas-based FTC Solar said it expects a “significant rebound” in its business in the final three months of this year, if it can secure sufficient supplies of PV panels.
The Hydrogen Stream: Hyundai to export heavy-duty hydrogen trucks to Germany
Seven German companies have agreed to put 27 Hyundai heavy-duty fuel cell trucks into fleet service in the coming months. American Airlines has revealed an investment in ZeroAvia, while New Fortress Energy has invested in a 120 MW industrial-scale plant in Texas.
Self-healing perovskites can withstand fierce cosmic radiation
The development of a set of testing protocols for perovskite solar cells intended for use outside Earth’s atmosphere could lead to the devices being installed permanently, and even manufactured, on the moon.
DNV puts different module formats to the test
Energy consultancy DNV was tasked by module manufacturing giant Longi Solar with comparing the balance of systems costs between modules utilizing 182mm and 210mm wafers, based on a 3.7 MW project in three different layouts. The results reveal a slim cost advantage for the smaller of the two, based on both fixed tilt and tracker systems.
Tesla Powerwalls in California join the movement to create virtual power plants
Made up of distributed residential energy storage, these “plants” stabilize the grid and often end the need for new fossil generation. Tesla customers in California are the latest to join the movement.
Seawater aqueous battery based on alloy of zinc and manganese
Scientists in the United States developed a new anode for aqueous batteries. A working battery utilizing this anode, with seawater as an electrolyte, demonstrated impressive energy density, and remained stable after 1,000 hours of high current cycling. The group is already discussing the potential of their approach in large-scale manufacturing.
Major economies should divert fossil fuel Covid-recovery cash to clean energy before it’s too late
A report by Finnish company Wärtsilä has estimated the potential impact if every dollar committed to a non-renewables energy sector recovery was instead funneled to clean power.
US utility scale solar powers through 2020
Big solar projects in the U.S. are back in style and growing in number.
