Solar power generators have until June 4 to bid for supplying the power from their proposed or existing PV projects under a 25-year PPA. 

A new report states decentralized solar installations in climate-vulnerable regions of Assam, Jharkhand, and Rajasthan lacked design to deal with future climate risks. The report authors, based on their study, outline considerations for policymakers, implementing agencies, vendors, and funding agencies to build resilient structures.

Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd (IREDA), the implementing agency for the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme, would soon issue the selection document for solar manufacturers who wish to apply for state cash to set up production lines in India.

SHV Energy, a Netherlands-headquartered global distributor of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), has invested in India’s SunSource Energy as it seeks to realize new opportunities within distributed renewable energy. The investment also enables SunSource to expand its distributed solar portfolio.

Bolivia has launched a second international call, after a first attempt failed in 2019, to seek potential investors for its huge lithium resources.

The developer has issued a tender to select EPC partners for the grid-connected solar capacity in Nokh Solar Park of Rajasthan. Bidding closes on May 12. 

EPC contractors now have until May 19 to lodge their interest in setting up the grid-connected solar capacity—including 40 MW conventional ground-based and 10 MW agrivoltaics. The PV projects shall come up in Cuddalore and Tiruvannamalai districts.

The solar project, spread over a 499.27 hectare area, is scheduled to be commissioned within 15 months from the power purchase agreement (PPA) date.

The federal government will provide INR968 crore of soft loans for a INR1307 crore, 100 MW solar park near the Jamuna river in Bangladesh’s Jamalpur district, where a second park of a similar size is being planned by Dhaka and a Chinese partner.

The solar module will be available in three versions – white, black, and glass-glass. The products have an output of up to 400 W, but when the bifacial effect is optimally used, the output of the glass-glass module can reach up to 430 W. Both the white and black modules weigh less than 20 kg.

Scientists investigating the aging mechanisms affecting today’s lithium-ion batteries observed that the loss of lithium over time is one of the main causes of performance loss. With this in mind, they developed and tested a “relithiation” process that promises to eliminate much of the cost and complexity from recycling battery components and materials.

Gautam Mohanka, managing director of New Delhi-headquartered Gautam Solar, told pv magazine its Haridwar module factory, now scaled up to 250 MW, is producing panels with a power output of up to 400 W, using mono PERC and polycrystalline cells.

A solar racking system’s strength is determined in part by the metal racking, but it also depends on the roof’s underlying structure. Rafters and any supporting structures must be strong enough to withstand your region’s maximum wind and snow loads.

The “graphene revolution” is almost here. Australian scientists specializing in aluminum-ion batteries are now working with Brisbane-based Graphene Manufacturing Group to commercialize a technology that could transform energy storage.

The cell, which looks externally like a device with a two-terminal architecture, was built with III-V semiconductor layers that were connected to the silicon sub-cell on the atomic level. The cell may be used in electrically powered aircraft and drones.

In large-scale solar, Adani was the largest developer by capacity, and Sterling & Wilson the preferred EPC partner. Tata Power Solar led in rooftop solar installations.

The Surat-based solar manufacturer has completed the supply of an aggregate 71,690 quantity of 335Wp polycrystalline solar panels to a textile company LS Mills.

Australia’s University of New South Wales (UNSW) has built a reputation for strong collaboration with the PV industry, from cell passivation through to the causes of degradation. Malcolm Abbott, a senior research fellow, directs one of the UNSW teams that is continuing its work into light and elevated temperature-induced degradation (LeTID). He recently spoke with pv magazine to provide an update.

French start-up Ekwateur is offering a solar kit consisting of a 330 W panel, a micro-inverter, a metallic structure, a monitoring sensor, and a few cables.

Solar manufacturers who wish to apply for state cash to set up production lines must meet minimum requirements for manufacturing scale and module efficiency, and must produce at least solar cells and modules to be shortlisted. They will then bid for the amount of incentives they want over a five-year period, with extra weight given to applicants who will manufacture more of the supply chain, from polysilicon downwards.

The proposed solution is claimed to be able to mitigate potential fire risk, improve logistics and reduce costs. It consists of a series of interchangeable wide blocks that are said to be easily movable for simplified transportation.

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) is funding the 300MW wind-solar-storage project as part of its mission to promote sustainable infrastructure projects in partner countries like India.

Ola has announced it will set up a Hypercharger Network for its electric two-wheeler customers. The company claims the charging network would be the world’s largest and densest, spread over 400 cities with more than 100,000 charging points.

New Delhi-headquartered Uttam Group of Companies has purchased California-based Catalina Composites as it sees a surge in demand for clean energy solutions, including hydrogen. The company will invest at least $20 million in staff, equipment, and research and development of high-pressure cylinder production for hydrogen and compressed natural gas.

Owners and operators of energy storage systems, as well as investors, need transparent ways to evaluate battery performance. They need certainty that the selected batteries for their ESS projects will perform reliably, have predictable life expectancies, and meet projected revenue and contractual obligations over their lifetimes. The economic viability of entire projects depend on this confidence, writes Michael Kleinberg of DNV.

Gujarat tops the list of Indian states with respect to installed solar rooftop capacity, as it has already achieved around 40 percent of its allotted target. The persisting pandemic has slowed down the pace of capacity addition but policy incentives like SURYA- Gujarat are paving way towards Gujarat’s clean energy transition.

In India, the lack of suitable fiscal incentives and relevant experience, combined with high upfront capital costs, has hindered the adoption of battery energy storage systems (BESS) in comparison to other developed countries. However, there is potential for the country to take the lead.

Drones, in combination with artificial intelligence, are helping to drive powerful insights, allowing teams to make better-informed decisions throughout the solar project development lifecycle.

For developers to close the emerging gap as the market becomes more competitive – and, crucially, build projects that perform to investors’ expectations in the long term – they need to not only develop better understanding of the factors influencing project performance but also take steps to adopt advances made in other established solar markets worldwide in the use of solar data.

A net feed-in tariff could offer a solution for consumers, developers, and distribution companies.