World

The Sixth Assembly of the International Solar Alliance will focus on universalizing energy access through solar mini-grids, mobilizing finance for accelerated solar deployment, and diversifying supply chains and manufacturing for solar.

Historic land use agreement unites developers, environmental organizations and local interest groups, and is the result of a 20-month Solar Uncommon Dialogue convened by Stanford’s Woods Institute for the Environment, the Solar Energy Industries Association, and The Nature Conservancy.

The European Parliament’s Internal Market and International Trade committees have approved and amended a proposal to create a global list of regions and industries with a high risk of forced labor.

The IEA PVPS Trends Report for 2023 discloses a historic milestone in the photovoltaic (PV) industry, surpassing 1 TW of cumulative capacity. The PV industry registered significant global growth in 2022, with China and Europe leading in charge. PV competitiveness in the market was strong, despite some regions facing problems due to supply issues, grid capacity constraints or labor shortages. The report shows that global collaboration, innovation and strategic planning remain key to a sustainable energy transition.

Australia’s CleanCo has launched an expression of interest process to add 3 GW of wind and solar generation to its portfolio.

Dutch company Triple Solar has launched a residential thermal battery with a heat loss rate ranging from 0.67 kWh/day to 0.84 kWh/day. The new product can reportedly provide hot water at temperatures ranging from 45C and 55C, with the minimum heat source temperature ranging between 65C and 80C.

Scientists in Spain tested PV modules under partial shading conditions, aiming to better understand the formation of performance-damaging hotspots. The study reveals a potential issue particularly affecting half-cell and bifacial modules, which may cause accelerated performance loss and is not covered by current testing/certification standards.

Solar panel waste will not be a problem because there is so little of it. However, there is a short-term problem in some places because panel deployment is growing fast and recycling is playing catch up.

The Japanese government has confirmed to pv magazine that it is launching a new support scheme for hydrogen in aviation, while Japanese investors continue to actively pursue participation in a green ammonia project in South Africa.

European warehouses are reporting extremely high inventory levels for residential energy storage systems, with aggressive prices expected, as distributors need to start clearing their stocks, according to S&P Global.