Gravity-based storage for distributed solar
An international research team has designed a residential solar-plus-storage system based on gravity. The system was built with a solar power generator, a bulk booster charge controller, an inverter, a solenoid device, a deep cycle battery, a pulley block, a geared motor, a microcontroller, and wire ropes. Its creators said the system is ideal for regions with high solar radiation. They found that, due to its high electrical requirements, the system needs to rely on high-power solar modules with an output of over 500 W.
Acme Solar raises equity funding for its 250 MW project in Rajasthan
Danish fund IFU will hold 39% ownership and United Nations’ S3i 10% in Acme Solar’s 250 MW Rajasthan project. Acme holds the majority stake of 51%.
China’s Jinchen holds 10 GW of solar production line orders from India
Jinchen Machinery has landed module production equipment orders from leading Indian solar manufacturers. It has already installed 2 GW of production lines and plans to supply the balance within three months. The company will open an India office in Surat, Gujarat.
Demand, policies, investment key to green hydrogen development
Ruchi Gupta is a research fellow at the University of Geneva’s Institute for Environmental Sciences. She focuses on how flexibility options, such as sector coupling with hydrogen production, can support renewable energy integration and decarbonize a wide range of sectors.
JSW Steel, CSIR-NCL, Scotland join India hydrogen alliance
JSW Steel will bring industry majors and the government together for hydrogen commercialization in the steel and cement sectors. CSIR-National Chemical Lab would work closely with the private sector on hydrogen development projects. Scottish Development International (SDI) brings the expertise from the implementation of large-scale hydrogen projects in Scotland.
Flagging off the energy transition decade
With the draft National Electricity Policy (NEP) 2021, India is providing the right policy direction for this decade of the energy transition. Yet, there is room for further improvement.
Flexible perovskite solar cell with 21.0% efficiency, high durability
International researchers have placed a low-dimensional metal-halide perovskite capping layer on top of a metal-halide perovskite film to provide hermetically sealed encapsulation and enhanced photocarrier properties. The cell has a short-circuit current density of 23.5 mA.cm2, an open-circuit voltage of 1.15 V, and a fill factor of 0.779.
Module price increases to moderate solar project returns
Solar module prices have increased by about 15-20% over the last 4-5 months to around 22-23 cents/watt as of date. As PV modules comprise about 50-55% of the overall project cost, such an increase in the module price level, if sustained, may moderate the debt service coverage metrics for developers by about 12-14 basis points.
SJVN ties up with NDMC for sale of 150 MW solar power
The state-owned hydropower producer plans to bid for 1 GW out of 5 GW grid-connected solar capacity tendered under the Central Public Sector Undertaking (CPSU) Scheme. In a pre-bid arrangement, it has tied up with NDMC for the sale of power from its solar projects at an INR 2.44/kWh (US$ 0.033/kWh) tariff for 25 years.
Goldi Solar to expand manufacturing capacity to 2.5 GW with new facility
The Indian solar panel manufacturer is setting up a 2 GW facility in Surat, increasing its total manufacturing capacity from 500 MW at present to 2.5 GW. The new facility will implement micro-gap module technology (MGMT), and produce high-efficiency mono-facial and bifacial modules with peak power output exceeding 500W and 600W, respectively.
