PV plant

Scientists in Morocco have evaluated how hybrid wind solar plants may be combined with pumped hydro storage to power remote rural areas. The proposed system was found to have an LCOE $0.03831/kWh and a 86% use factor.

Renewables developer Q Energy has closed €50.4 million ($55.7 million) in financing for a 74.3 MW floating solar plant in northeastern France. Construction is already underway, with commissioning planned for the first quarter of next year.

Japan has allocated 33.6 MW of PV capacity in its latest procurement exercise. The lowest bid for a 650 kW solar project came in at JPY 5.0 ($0.035)/kWh, while the average final price was JPY 8.08/kWh.

Grenada’s Public Utilities Regulatory Commission is seeking expressions of interest for 15.1 MW of solar at Maurice Bishop International Airport. The project may also include a 10.6 MW/21.2 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS). The deadline for submissions is Sept. 20.

The solar energy industry continues to innovate, striving to improve the efficiency and reliability of photovoltaic systems. One of the most promising advancements is the development of bifacial modules combined with tracking systems. These technologies aim to capture more sunlight and convert it into electricity, making solar energy more effective and affordable. IEA PVPS Task 13 is at the forefront of this innovation, working to enhance the performance and reliability of PV systems. This article explores the concept of bifacial tracking, its advantages, challenges, market developments, and the significant contributions of IEA PVPS Task 13.

Chile’s Sociedad Agrícola y Servicios Isla de Pascua (SASIPA) has kicked off a 3 MW/2 MWh tender for the first solar-plus-storage project on Easter Island.

Conceived by French scientists, the novel system uses ensemble learning and does not require anything more than a commercially available optimizer. Before it makes a decision, the method combines K nearest neighbors, support vector machine, and decision tree learning. Accuracy is reportedly up to 89%.

Dutch researchers used dynamic modelling to uncover the demand for silicon-based PV materials used in a wide range silicon PV technologies, including perovskite-silicon tandem and back-contact modules. The model included calculating the impact of advances in module efficiency and material intensity, as well as circular closed loop recycling.

The French government says the nation installed 1.05 GW of new solar in the second quarter, bringing the country’s cumulative installed PV capacity to 22.2 GW by the end of June.

Larsen & Toubro has carved out a renewable business division amid growth in its infrastructure segment.