• November 28, 2022

The SolarX Grand Challenge competition aims to foster entrepreneurship and innovation to address Africa's energy gap with solar solutions. The International Solar Alliance launched the SolarX Grand Challenge competition to support entrepreneurship and innovation in Africa. The SolarX Grand Challenge competition will inspire innovators and researchers to provide high-value innovations that the solar industry desperately needs to accelerate the application of solar systems. The competition will select 20 start-ups and innovators from countries across Africa, and each winner will receive a cash prize of US$300,000. The winning entrepreneurs will participate in an accelerator program and gain access to African markets. Ajay Mathur, Director General of the International Solar Alliance, said: "The SolarX Grand Challenge competition is part of our two-pronged strategy to promote solar deployment in Africa. In line with this strategy, we are creating a solar facility to help African countries get more investment. In addition to getting investment In addition, we need to build local PV project planning pipelines.” The inaugural SolarX competition will focus on attracting investment in the solar industry, bridging the gap between energy demand and supply, and promoting the growth of Africa's entrepreneurial ecosystem. Mathur said: “Africa has an estimated solar power potential of 7,900 GW, but currently only four African countries have entrepreneurial ecosystems, so there is a huge gap between demand and supply for power generation. African start-ups attract less than 1% of global venture capital. We want to change that by launching the SolarX competition.” The SolarX Grand Challenge competition will announce the shortlist by April 2023 and the winner by June 2023.

• November 21, 2022

LONGi said it has achieved an efficiency rating of 26.81% for an unspecified heterojunction solar cell confirmed by Germany's Institute for Solar Energy Research in Hamelin (ISFH). Chinese PV module maker LONGi has revealed that its unspecified heterojunction (HJT) solar cells based on full-size silicon wafers have achieved a power conversion efficiency of 26.81% and are in mass production. This result was confirmed by ISFH in Germany. Martin Green, a professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia and creator of the "Solar Cell Efficiency Table", said the result is the highest efficiency record for a silicon solar cell to date. “This outstanding achievement will be included in the next edition of the efficiency tables published in PV Advances,” he said, noting that the previous record of 26.7% was set by an unspecified Japanese manufacturer in 2017. Longi may be referring to the results achieved by the Japanese chemical company Kaneka. Its 180cm² crystalline silicon device using heterojunction and back contact technology achieved 26.63% efficiency. "LONGi broke new world records for the conversion efficiency of silicon solar cells with 26.74%, 26.78% and 26.81% respectively, further affirming LONGi's determination to continue to focus on R&D investment and promote industrial progress," the Chinese manufacturer said. . In September, the company said it had achieved 26.12% efficiency for its gallium-doped p-type heterojunction (HJT) solar cells based on M6 wafers. The company also achieved an efficiency of 25.47% for the same solar cell in March. Furthermore, the Chinese manufacturer recorded an efficiency of 26.5% for n-type heterojunction solar cells in June and 25.19% for its p-type TOPCon solar cells in July 2021. In June 2021, it achieved an efficiency rating of 25.21% for n-type TOPCon PV cells.

• November 18, 2022

At the request of the Indian Solar Manufacturers Association (ISMA), the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) under the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry has terminated its anti-dumping investigation on solar cells from China, Thailand and Vietnam. The complaint was withdrawn after the government imposed basic tariffs on solar cells and modules as price pressures on domestic manufacturers eased. The Indian government has imposed a 40% basic tariff on solar modules and a 25% basic tariff on solar cells since April. ISMA said: “The above-mentioned levies cover the full range of the products under investigation and have largely relieved the price pressure on the domestic industry due to the dumping by the countries under investigation, although not yet fully.” In May 2021, DGTR launched an investigation into solar cells from China, Thailand and Vietnam. The survey was based on applications submitted by three companies: Mundra Solar PV, Jupiter Solar Power and Jupiter International. In applications filed with ISMA, the companies sought to impose anti-dumping duties to protect them from cheap imports.

• November 14, 2022

Portugal's Fusion Fuel and Ballard Power jointly announced the successful commissioning of the H2Évora plant in Portugal. The grid-connected pilot project is expected to produce 15 tons of green hydrogen per year. Portugal's Fusion Fuel has connected its green hydrogen plant to the grid in Évora, Portugal. The project is the first successfully commissioned solar-to-green hydrogen facility in Portugal. The H2Évora pilot project includes 15 of the company's HEVO solar-powered hydrogen generators. The generators are expected to produce 15 tonnes of green hydrogen per year. The generator is equipped with a small proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer mounted on the back of a highly concentrated solar power (CPV) panel. The facility includes a 200 kW FCwave fuel cell module, supplied by Canada-based Ballard Power, to convert green hydrogen into electricity, enabling Fusion Fuel to sell power to the grid during periods of peak demand. H2Évora, which includes hydrogen purification, compression and storage systems, has been in operation since late 2021 and is now connected to the Portuguese grid. Frederico Figueira de Chaves, CFO of Fusion Fuel, said: "The facility will also be an important testing ground for our R&D team as we continue to iterate on the technology in the future." In August, Fusion Fuel received a 10 million euro ($9.9 million) grant to develop the 6.6 MW HEVO industrial green hydrogen project in Sines, Portugal. The project will be equipped with 300 solar-powered hydrogen generators.

• November 10, 2022

The U.S. solar industry suffered its worst quarter in two years in terms of deployments as global supply challenges slowed growth, project delays and prices climbed. U.S. utility-scale solar installed just under 1.9 GW in the third quarter of 2022, with the industry experiencing its slowest quarter since July-September 2020. This year has been considered a landmark year for the solar industry, but global supply challenges have hampered growth, delayed projects and pushed up prices. The U.S. could deploy 550 GW of renewable energy by 2030, the American Clean Energy Council (ACP) said in its quarterly report. Solar is expected to lead the energy transition this decade, accounting for 59% of the renewable energy projects to be built. In the process, the U.S. is expected to reduce overall economy emissions by 40 percent from 2005 levels. The ACP says this progress will be achieved through a clean energy workforce of 1 million. Despite the slow growth this quarter, 2022 is still the second-highest year for solar deployments, after 2021. Quarterly installs were down 23% from the same period a year earlier. The slowdown is likely to persist for some time as solar module supply issues remain, and the U.S. struggles to inject Inflation Cuts Act funds into new domestic manufacturing supply chains. By 2022, the total installed solar capacity will exceed 7 GW. This brings total utility-scale solar operating capacity to 68 GW.

• November 02, 2022

The Netherlands is on track to add an additional 3.3 GW of new PV capacity in 2022, enough to bring the total installed solar capacity to 17.6 GW. If these figures are confirmed by actual deployment, all PV systems installed could cover more than 12% of electricity demand, according to newly released figures from the Dutch state-run Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland (RVO). RVO cites multiple examples of solar projects not being finally deployed, such as because rooftop buildings were found to be unsuitable for installing solar modules, or new projects were not immediately connected to the grid because of grid congestion. In addition, RVO reported that installed PV capacity reached 14.4 GW by the end of 2021, with solar accounting for around 9.3% of total electricity demand, with the bulk of the capacity - 8.6 GW coming from systems over 15 kW, with the remaining 5.8 GW coming from smaller installations. The agency also said about 3.5 GW of new PV installations will be connected to the grid in the Netherlands in 2021, about 200 MW higher than figures released by the Netherlands Central Statistics Office in March, when an estimated 3.3 GW of new solar capacity was installed. The SDE++ programme for large-scale renewables remains the main driver of planned and contracted PV capacity in the country. A recent report by the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) states that the Netherlands is expected to generate 132 GW of photovoltaic power by 2050.

• October 28, 2022

The International Energy Agency's Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme (IEA PVPS) estimates that 173.5 GW of new solar capacity will be installed in 2021, and that figure could increase to 260 GW in 2022. IEA PVPS recently released its latest "Trends in Photovoltaic Applications to 2022" and estimates that "at a reasonably certain level," at least 173.5 GW of new solar capacity will be installed globally in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 22%, making 2021 still under the influence of the epidemic Another new record. Gaëtan Masson, co-author of the report and co-chair of the European Solar Manufacturing Council, said: “Last year’s market figures were incredible, but this year could be even higher, and I’m sure the market would have reached the size of the trade disruption we’ve experienced over the past two years. 260 GW.” The forecast is "broadly in line" with an undisclosed company's forecast, he said. He added: “Looking at the production numbers, we produced 153 GW of wafers in the first six months of the year, so it’s not entirely out of the question that the final figure is around 250 GW to 260 GW.”

• October 14, 2022

The Brazilian Photovoltaic Solar Association (ABSolar), citing data from the country's energy regulator Agência Nacional de Energia Elétrica (ANEEL), said Brazil had more than 20 GW of installed solar capacity at the end of September. Brazil has 6,525 MW of utility-scale solar power plants and 13,579 MW of distributed photovoltaic power plants, all of which operate under the country's net metering regime. Utility-scale PV developers could add another 1,760 MW of capacity by the end of the year, ANEEL said. Most of this (about 1.6 GW) will be built outside the regulated market through power purchase agreements. Brazil's cumulative PV capacity will reach 24,928 MW by the end of this year, ABSolar said. But to get there, developers must add 3.5GW of distributed PV capacity by the end of December.

• October 10, 2022

Germany-based Creton and building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) specialist Autarq have designed a new type of solar shingle. The new 'Creaton PV-Autarq' product is based on Creaton's Domino Black Tile, a smooth, flat brick that acts as a carrier for the small monocrystalline photovoltaic elements offered by Autarq. The tile front has a 3.2mm hardened single layer safety glass. The panel operates between -40 C and 85 C and can withstand mechanical stress levels up to 5,400 Pascals. Longevity and durability certified to IEC 61215 and safety certified to IEC 61730. Components are warranted for up to 25 years. Solar roof tiles can be installed in combination with original tiles. The size of the photovoltaic area can be flexibly designed. Tiles are individually connected to each other via plugin connections at deployment time. All connecting cables and plug contacts are hidden under the brick and are protected from the weather.