Residential PV

March 24 is the last date to submit bids for setting up grid-connected rooftop solar systems on domestic, government, and other buildings in the State of Himachal Pradesh. Madhya Pradesh has invited solar power developers to implement an aggregate 440MW (AC) of grid-connected solar PV systems under component A of PM KUSUM scheme. 

The London-based analyst has published a series of clean tech predictions for the year which also highlighted the rising proportion of sub-5MW solar projects in the global market, and cheaper clean energy financing costs even as panel prices continue to rise.

Researchers in Saudi Arabia have fabricated an integrated fully PV-powered system to extract fresh water from the atmosphere. The system uses excess heat from the solar modules to evaporate and condense water that can then be used to grow crops. Part of the water is also used to cool down the solar modules through an active cooling technique.

The Gujarat-based solar panel manufacturer and EPC services provider has been chosen by Shree Ramkrishna Knowledge Foundation to set up 450kW of solar rooftop projects to power around 350 houses and public areas in the village of Dudhala.

India recorded the highest ever annual solar installation in 2021 despite a rise in component costs.

French start-up Solar Cloth is planning to scale up capacity at its module production facility near Cannes. The factory will produce 17.6%-efficient flexible solar modules integrated into textile supports.

British analyst GlobalData has predicted residential and commercial rooftop panels will not return to a declining price trend until next year, with post-Covid logistics headaches the cause, rather than a polysilicon shortage.

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi have developed solar towers that can be moved from one place to another and can generate 20-30% more power while requiring only 50-60% space compared to conventional mounting setups.

India installed 3,316 MW of non-hydro renewable energy capacity in the third quarter of FY2021-22, compared to just 1,914 MW installed in the same period last year. Out of this, 93% (3,072 MW) came from solar.

BloombergNEF’s Jenny Chase has surveyed the state of affairs in world solar for clean energy journal Joule and said the technology’s historic ability to surmount obstacles – and persistently confound analysts’ predictions – should offer a reason for hope.