As sales of Li-ion batteries accelerate, both governments and the largest battery manufacturers are beginning to grapple with the question of whether local manufacturing facilities are desirable or even necessary. Although this appears to buck the trend of technological development over the last few decades, there are a number of technical as well as geopolitical reasons that make this a major issue for all Li-ion battery manufacturing stakeholders. Everoze partner Jamie Shaw-Stewart explores some of these issues.

At the end of 2021, the total capacity of the solar power plants throughout the world was estimated to be 940 GW. According to the forecasts of solar association SolarPower Europe, the total capacity could reach 2 TW by 2025. With the rapidly growing popularity of solar power plants, experts predict that the next breakthrough in this sector will be smart batteries. In the future, solar power plants will not be able to operate without them.

Australian-born vanadium redox flow technology and new homegrown electrolyte sources are set to bulk up renewable energy storage options in the Pacific region and plug the gap left by lithium supply-chain issues. Natalie Filatoff reports from Sydney.

Metal roofing has become a driver for roof type selection in many cases because not only is a metal/solar roof system less expensive upfront than other roof system combinations, but it also leads to improvements in the lifetime return on investment of the system.

UK researchers have revealed that gaseous hydrogen could cause problems in natural gas pipelines, while electrolyzer manufacturer Nel has announced plans to build a second production line in Norway.

A Spanish scientist has developed a system that reportedly produces hydrogen on-site without expensive electrolysis.

While it comes with clear performance advantages, the move to larger module formats has created plenty of confusion since it began in 2019. As the dust settles and standards emerge, pv magazine caught up with Hongbin Fang, director of product marketing at Longi Solar, to discuss the latest on wafer and cell dimensions.

Renewable hardware that lasts longer and uses fewer materials could bolster recycling efforts and help to build an effective circular economy for solar and battery technologies, says the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

Alion Energy trackers thread the return-on-investment needle with productivity gains from white roofs and bifacial modules, while design aggressively maximizes module count.

A Spanish court has ruled that Spain’s largest operational PV project – the 500 MW Nuñez de Balboa solar plant – occupies a piece of land that was illegally expropriated. Project owner Iberdrola must now shut down a large portion of the installation.