US doubles solar polysilicon and wafer tariffs on China
The US government has doubled Section 301 tariffs on imported solar polysilicon and wafers from China to 50%. The materials are vital for manufacturing solar panels, from refining polysilicon to assembling modules.
Volta Energy unveils new solar generator for construction sites, pumps
Netherlands-based Volta Energy has launched a 15 kVA portable solar generator to provide offgrid power equipment for use on construction sites. The system includes solar panels, an inverter, battery, trailer, and a backup bio-diesel generator.
EliTe Solar opens solar cell production facility in Indonesia
Just a few months after beginning construction on a cell manufacturing factory in Egypt, Singapore’s EliTe Solar has opened a cell manufacturing facility in Indonesia, which took around eight months to complete from site selection to opening.
BNEF: Lithium-ion battery pack prices drop to record low of $115/kWh
Battery prices continue to tumble on the back of lower metal costs and increased scale, squeezing margins for manufacturers. Further price declines are expected over the next decade.
Combining floating PV with compressed air energy storage
Researchers from Egypt and the UK developed a new floating PV system concept that utilizes compressed air for energy storage. The system has a roundtrip efficiency of 34.1% and an exergy efficiency of 41%.
Husk Power launches ‘minigrid in a box’ solution
With its containerized solution Prism, Husk Power Systems is now able to deploy minigrids at a rate of one per day with the same resources.
Improving solar cell efficiency with upconversion nanoparticles
An international research group has developed a light upconversion system that can reportedly improve crystalline silicon solar cell efficiency by up to 0.87%. The technology consists of multilayer nanoparticles that act as near-infrared absorbers across different spectral ranges.
Sinovoltaics updates battery energy storage system financial stability ranking
The latest financial stability ranking keeps Tesla, Mustang Battery, Kung Long Batteries, Hyundai Electric and Eaton, in the top five spots in a report that includes 55 manufacturers.
Fire risk for home energy storage systems is 0.0049%, says German study
RWTH Aachen University in Germany has investigated the safety of battery storage systems and compared it with other household appliances or technologies. The study aims to create a reliable database for classifying fire risk for consumers and regulators.
Maxeon Solar reports $179 million Q3 loss
The Singapore-headquartered company has faced product detainment by U.S. Customs and has announced plans to focus solely on the U.S. market.
