Utility Scale PV

India’s annual solar installations in 2024 will surpass 20 GW, with 15.9 GW of capacity likely to be added in the utility-scale segment and 4.2 GW on rooftops, says a new report by JMK Research.

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) says developers installed 345.5 GW of solar throughout the world in 2023. China mainly drove the surge, accounting for nearly three-quarters of all new renewable energy, but IRENA says more equitable growth will be needed to hit 2030 deployment targets.

Polish grid operator Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne (PSE) has announced its third disconnection of renewable energy capacity this year. This time it has initiated the reduction of 1,201 MW to 1,877 MW of PV in response to oversupply.

Researchers in Australia have compared the technical and financial performances of a hydrogen battery storage system and a lithium-ion battery when coupled with rooftop PV. They evaluated two commercially available systems – LAVO and Tesla Powerwall 2 – and found that the lithium-ion battery provides better financial profits, whereas the hydrogen battery offers more battery lifespan for long duration of energy storage.

Gensol Engineering Ltd has appointed Kapil K Nirmal as the chief executive officer for its solar EPC business in the Middle East region. 

The US Department of Energy (DoE) has announced up to $22 million in funds under its Renewable Energy Siting through Technical Engagement and Planning (R-STEP) program.

Adani Green Energy Ltd has commissioned a 180 MW solar PV plant that benefits from a 25-year power purchase agreement with the Solar Energy Corp. of India.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) tops in green hydrogen competitiveness with the world’s lowest levelized cost of hydrogen (LCoH) of $2.7/kg in 2023 and a projected $1.7/kg in 2030. It is followed by Saudi Arabia and India, which could produce green hydrogen at $2.9-$3.2/kg in 2023 and $1.8/kg in 2030.

The Israeli government said that earlier this month, for several minutes, renewable energy accounted for most of the nation’s energy production. In particular, solar covered 45% of total generation.

An international research team explained that, although inverter clipping is initially effective in mitigating soiling losses, these losses could become more visible with time, as solar module degradation makes clipping less frequent. They also warned that inverter undersizing alone may not be enough to mitigate soiling losses and suggested cleaning as an additional way to reduce them.