The National Renewable Energy Laboratory developed a proof of concept for a method to remove polymers from solar panel manufacturing to enable more efficient recycling. From pv magazine USA Solar panels are highly recyclable, but the use of thin plastic layers to encase solar cells can cause challenges in recycling valuable materials like silicon or silver effectively. The US Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has developed a proof of concept that helps cut the use of polymers by making direct glass-to-glass welds in solar cells. The method makes use of femtosec ..read more

The European Parliament has approved the Net-Zero Industry Act, which now awaits formal adoption by the European Council to become law. The European Solar Manufacturing Council has welcomed the decision, saying that it “gives a green light for procurement of sustainable European-made solar panels." Members of European Parliament (MEPs) have formally agreed upon the Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA), which is designed to help Europe manufacture at least 40% of its annual deployment needs of strategic technology products, including PV modules, batteries and heat pumps. The legislation was approved by ..read more

Greek renewables developer Elica SA is seeking consultants for two desktop studies related to an electrical interconnection project between Greece and Egypt. The undersea link will transmit green energy to Europe via a 3 GW HDVC connection. Two calls for expressions of interest from consultants have gone out for the final studies on an electrical interconnection project between Egypt and Greece to transmit green energy.  The so-called GREGY project is being managed by Elica SA, a subsidiary of Greek infrastructure investor Copelouzos Group. Upon completion, a 3 GW HVDC connection between ..read more

On April 25, 1954, US researchers presented the first prototype of a usable solar module. The efficiency at that time was around 6%. A lot has happened since then. From pv magazine Germany Exactly 70 years ago today, scientists at Bell Labs in the US state of New Jersey presented the first practical “solar battery” to the public. The New York Times reported at the time that “this invention could mark the beginning of a new era – the harnessing of the almost limitless solar energy for human civilization.” However, it took several decades for this vision to become tangible. The global growth of ..read more

Burundi, the poorest country on earth, is unable to buy fossil fuels on theinternational market due to a lack of hard currency. pv magazine spoke with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and a PV analyst to assess the true potential of PV in the nation's current energy crisis. Burundi installed 340 kW of energy capacity in 2023, the UNDP told pv magazine, adding that the country could increase this in 2024. The local office was unable to provide a forecast for 2024 or the total installed capacity in 2022, as that many small-scale projects often go unnoticed.  “Photovoltai ..read more

An international research team has used the convolutional neural network (CNN) deep learning algorithm to identify faults in solar panels. Its work showed the proposed technique has a high degree of accuracy, especially if combined with transfer learning models. A group of researchers led by the University of Sharjah in the UAE proposed to use the convolutional neural network (CNN) technique to detect temperature and shading-induced faults in PV modules. CNN is a deep learning algorithm that enables extracting and learning features from visual data. “CNN extracts feature maps from data sets us ..read more

An international research team has proposed using iron oxide and copper oxide to lower photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) solar module temperature. Their analysis showed that the two compounds were able to lower the panels' operating temperature by 23.49% and 34.58% respectively. An international group of scientists proposed to use copper oxide (CuO) and iron oxide (Fe2O3) nanofluids to cool down the operating temperatures of photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) systems. ”The current study offers an energy and exergy assessment for a PVT system considering the thermodynamic laws using CuO and Fe2O3 nanofluids a ..read more

Chemitek has developed new cleaning products for floating PV arrays. The Portuguese company says it has tested and confirmed them to be safe for animals and vegetation around such systems. Chemitek Solar, a Portuguese manufacturer of cleaning solutions for the PV industry, said that two of its new products have passed ecotoxicity tests for their use on floating PV (FPV) plants. It claimed that Solar Wash Protect (SWP) and Water Softening Agent (WSA) are both safe for vegetation and animals that live around floating plants. “The study reveals that the SWP only needs a column of water, under the ..read more

Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have identified a high-energy, high-power hybrid sodium-ion battery capable of charging in just a few seconds. The system integrates anode materials typically used in batteries with cathodes suitable for supercapacitors. Sodium-ion energy storage systems have garnered a lot of attention due to their superior safety, raw material costs, and environmental credentials compared to ubiquitous lithium-ion batteries. However, the technology is likely to challenge the incumbent only once costs are reduced by improving t ..read more

An African Development Bank (AfDB) report covering critical takeaways from the ARE Energy Access Investment Forum 2023 says that challenges in financing, policy, technology, and skills enhancement must be overcome to support the deployment of distributed renewable energy minigrids across Africa. A new AfDB report has called for clear policy and regulatory frameworks to be established to help attract private investment and support the development of distributed renewable energy (DRE) minigrids across Africa. The report, “Accelerating Private Sector Investments in Green Mini-Grids: Key Takeaways ..read more