Tag Archive for: photovoltaic

CSIRO has officially launched its Printed Photovoltaic Facility in Melbourne, advancing pilot-scale production of flexible printed solar film.

Flexible printed solar film research tacks closer to commercial viability

After 15 years, scientists at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Australia have advanced the commercial potential of their flexible perovskite cells printed on long continuous rolls of flexible plastic film following the opening of their AUD 6.8 million ($4.4 million) Printed Photovoltaic (PV) Facility in Clayton, 23 kilometres southwest of Melbourne.

The solar films are thin, lightweight, portable and semi-transparent, making them suitable for various applications including construction, space, defence, mining, emergency management, disaster relief, and wearables.

For example, printed PV films can be laminated onto windows or other glazing or incorporated into tents or sails for recreational or emergency purposes.

Click here to read the full article
Source: PV Magazine

—

If you have any questions or thoughts about the topic, feel free to contact us here or leave a comment below.

Old photovoltaic panels are stripped of aluminum and wires, then ground to recycle plastic, glass, silicon, silver, and copper.

How a Brisbane shed is turning old solar panels into silver and copper

In a 50m shed south of Brisbane, solar panels are being turned into silver and copper.

Photovoltaic panels no longer capable of producing electricity are having their aluminium and wires removed before being ground up and refined into plastic, glass, silicon, silver and copper. So far, nothing has gone to waste.

The Pan Pacific Recycling director, John Hill, says recovering the materials, with no toxic fumes and nothing going to landfill, is a “big game changer to the whole industry worldwide”.

Click here to read the full article
Source: The Guardian

—

If you have any questions or thoughts about the topic, feel free to contact us here or leave a comment below.

The US DOE announced an $861M loan guarantee to build 2 solar photovoltaic farms in PR as persistent power outages plague the US territory

US government announces $861 million for two solar farms in Puerto Rico

The U.S. Department of Energy announced an $861 million loan guarantee on Wednesday to build two solar photovoltaic farms in Puerto Rico as persistent power outages plague the U.S. territory.

The project would be located in the southern coastal towns of Guayama and Salinas and backed by Clean Flexible Energy LLC, a subsidiary of The AES Corporation and TotalEenrgies Holdings USA Inc.

It would add up to 200 megawatts of solar generation and another 285 megawatts of storage capacity to Puerto Rico’s grid, according to U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer M. Granholm.

The solar photovoltaic project is expected to generate about 460,000 megawatts of energy, enough to power some 43,000 homes, officials say.

Click here to read the full article
Source: ABC News

—

If you have any questions or thoughts about the topic, feel free to contact us here or leave a comment below.

To triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030, $1.5 trillion annually is needed; solar PV is the only tech on track for this investment.

Solar photovoltaic (PV) is the only technology on track to meet 2030 investment targets

The world will need to invest US$1.5 trillion per year until the end of the decade to meet the target of tripling global installed renewable energy capacity by 2030, as agreed upon at the COP28 summit, and solar PV is the only clean energy technology currently on track to receive the level of investment necessary to hit this goal.

These are the headline takeaways from ‘Delivering on the UAE Consensus’, the first in a series of annual reports published by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the Global Renewables Alliance (GRA), COP28, COP29 and COP30 host Brazil. The report finds that the world added 473GW of new renewable power capacity in 2023, of which solar accounted for 346.9GW.

Click here to read the full article
Source: Reve

—

If you have any questions or thoughts about the topic, feel free to contact us here or leave a comment below.

Researchers from China have designed a novel building-integrated photovoltaics system that integrates a layer of PCM on each side of the wall

Building-integrated photovoltaic system integrating PCM on sides

,

Researchers from China have designed a novel building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) system that integrates a layer of phase change material (PCM) on each side of the wall.

Dubbed double-PCM BIPV composite envelope (BIPV-dPCM), the new system was experimentally validated via a numerical model and was compared to reference systems. Per the results, it achieved superior thermoelectric coupling performance compared to all of the other systems.

Click here to read the full article
Source: PV Magazine

—

If you have any questions or thoughts about the topic, feel free to contact us here or leave a comment below.

Vertical solar panels are proving to be a new solution for northern regions, yielding 20 per cent more energy than traditional panels.

Norway’s national football stadium has the world’s largest vertical solar roof

Norway’s national football stadium carries a lesser-known star attraction: 1,242 solar panels stretching across the roof.

These are not traditional flat roof panels. The mini, square-shaped solar panels have two key features that distinguish them from those typically seen on buildings: they are bifacial, meaning they have two active sides, and they are installed vertically.

In June 2024, Ullevaal Stadium in Oslo became home to the world’s largest vertical solar panel installation on a roof, placing the stadium at the forefront of renewable energy innovation.

Click here to read the full article
Source: Euro News

—

If you have any questions or thoughts about the topic, feel free to contact us here or leave a comment below.

Swiss firm Sun-Ways is testing a system to discreetly install solar panels between railway tracks, showcasing innovative photovoltaic design.

Invisible solar panels hide in railroad tracks to thwart critics

,

Solar Panels In Railway Tracks: A Sensible Solution

Laying solar panels in between railroad tracks makes pretty good sense. The main criticisms of rural solar development involve appropriate land use and aesthetic issues, but those matters have long been settled for the many railroad rights-of-way criss-crossing the globe. Railroads are established, permitted, and permanent elements of modern infrastructure. Aside from freight yards and other busy parts of a rail system, railroads are also empty of traffic for long periods of time, allowing for ample sun exposure.

In addition, railroads can offer the solar industry the important element of flat and relatively level sites for development, without having to construct new access roads and other infrastructure. Although the flat configuration and the absence of tracking is not optimal for solar energy harvesting, that can be offset by the savings of reducing racking systems to the bare minimum. The railroad solution also enables developers to avoid disrupting natural habitats or taking space away from other potential land uses.

Click here to read the full article
Source: Clean Technica

—

If you have any questions or thoughts about the topic, feel free to contact us here or leave a comment below.

New German research shows residential PV remains optimal despite energy price breaks, with significant savings during 2019-2022 market volatility.

Photovoltaic systems are a no-regret investment decision

Scientists at the RWTH Aachen University have analyzed the influence that the political measures adopted by the German government to combat rising energy prices in recent years have had on residential PV system profitability and have concluded that price breaks on electricity gas do not “reverse” the economical advantage of deploying a solar array.

The researchers analyzed, in particular, the measures taken by the German authorities after the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis and those following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. Their analysis focused on the possible savings achieved by PV investments made for single-family homes (SFH) during the period.

Click here to read the full article
Source: PV Magazine

—

If you have any questions or thoughts about the topic, feel free to contact us here or leave a comment below.

Solar energy potential is immense with solar tech improving and costs dropping. Global installations are surging but challenges remain.

Even solar energy’s biggest fans are underestimating it

Every day, the sun’s rays send 173,000 terawatts of energy to Earth continuously, 10,000 times the amount used by all of humanity. Which is to say, the potential for solar energy is immense, and we’re nowhere near the limit.

That’s why solar energy is such an appealing prospect, particularly as an alternative to the fossil fuels that cause climate change. And over the past decade, solar energy technology has vastly improved in performance and plummeted in cost.

As a result, photovoltaic panels have cropped up like dandelions across fields and rooftops at a stunning pace. Yet even the people most plugged-in to the energy industry and most optimistic about solar power continue to underestimate it. In fact, it’s a long-running joke among energy nerds that forecasters keep predicting solar will level off as it continues to rocket up to the sun.

Click here to read the full article
Source: Vox

—

If you have any questions or thoughts about the topic, feel free to contact us here or leave a comment below.

Bayer and Turku Energia have secured a building permit for a large-scale solar park in Turku, Southwest Finland.

Bayer to switch to fully local renewable energy in Finland

The photovoltaic power station will consist of 7 956 solar panels spread across an area of four hectares in Artukainen, a district located about five kilometres west of downtown Turku. The panels will produce 3 400 megawatt-hours of energy a year, reducing carbon-dioxide emissions by about 3 000 tonnes over 15 years – equivalent to the emissions of 23 000 flats.

Turku Energia will own and operate the park, selling the energy to Bayer. The two companies also put pen to paper on a multiyear contract for wind energy produced at in Satakunta by Suomen Hyötytuuli, an affiliate of Turku Energia.

“Bayer’s Finland operation has been carbon neutral since 2021, and the energy Bayer uses in Turku has already been fully renewable,” commented Tomi Penttilä, head of production for Bayer in Turku. “With the new solar park and wind power agreement, the electricity we use will be produced even more locally.”

Click here to read the full article
Source: Good News from Finland

—

If you have any questions or thoughts about the topic, feel free to contact us here or leave a comment below.