World

A U.K. research group is developing an anti-soiling solution produced via a chemical process compatible with glass manufacturing. The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council is providing $1.6 million of funding for the project.

IHS Markit predicts that global installed solar PV capacity will grow by 20% to over 200 GW in 2022, despite a difficult cost environment. PV system costs are expected to resume their downward trend from 2023, when more polysilicon capacities will come into operation.

The Antípodas project was announced by the Chilean government last week. It is aimed at taking advantage of the huge solar potential of the Atacama Desert, which is the world’s region with the highest solar radiation.

The Sun Horizon consortium has started to collect performance data on two pilot projects that combine heat pumps with solar systems using hybrid panels on homes in Riga, Latvia. The solution features a heat pump for space heating and domestic hot water and PVT panels to produce power for heating and domestic appliances, with excess power fed to the grid.

In a new report, experts from the International Energy Agency Photovoltaic Power System Programme (IEA-PVPS) have assessed the economical and environmental benefits of repairing and reusing or replacing solar modules that are not complying with a 30-year expected lifetime. They found that reusing offers the best environmental impact in all cases, while the profitability of this option is currently guaranteed only by rooftop PV under certain conditions. As for large-scale solar, module replacement remains the most competitive option.

New investors and technological complexity demand new approaches to O&M service provision, argues NovaSource’s Timo Moeller. With larger PV fleets and the ability to process the operational data of generation, pure-play O&M may continue to deliver on solar’s cost learning curve.

A 60% reduction in building energy use will be key to achieving a low-cost, 100% renewable energy grid, according to a new study by the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

The dismissal is a win for the Solar Energy Industries Association, which vigorously opposed the request by American Solar Manufacturers Against Chinese Circumvention (A-SMACC) for anti-dumping and anti-circumvention (AD-CVD) tariffs

The International Solar Alliance is an international intergovernmental treaty-based organization headquartered in India that aims to reduce the cost of solar technology and mobilize finance to accelerate solar adoption in its member countries. 

Researchers in Kenya have analyzed the performance of an off-grid PV system located near an isotropic antenna as an emitting source.