The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has committed AU$358 million (US$227.8 million) to new projects during the year from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023, while it has also assigned AU$41.5 million for ultra low cost solar, a new focus since last year.
Thin-film manufacturer Ascent Solar has received positive feedback from the US Department of Energy (DOE) for its agrivoltaics technology, and the company will now apply for funding for the development of a proposed agrivoltaics system.
Renewables are set to contribute 80% of new power capacity to 2030 in the stated policies scenario (STEPS), with solar PV alone accounting for more than half of it, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced a new tax incentive last week (19th October) for solar and wind projects in low-income and “underserved” communities, as well as Tribal lands.
PV Tech sat down with Alastair Mounsey, Regional Sales Director at JA Solar, to talk about the transition to n-type tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) cells and modules, the state of the European solar market and what will define a successful PV manufacturer in the coming years.
City University of Hong Kong has announced an improvement of perovskite solar cells as a research team engineered a type of self-assembled monolayer and anchored it on a nickel oxide surface as a charge extraction layer.
LONGi has chosen to develop back-contact (BC) cells, again based on n-type technology, announcing plans to invest RMB3.92 billion (US$536 million) on production. Future cells will be based on the company’s HPBC ‘PRO’ high-efficiency technology, with roll-out expected to gradually commence from November 2024, reaching full capacity a year later.
Polish renewables developer R.Power has secured a €75 million (US$79.5 million) investment from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
The new ESG standard is based on existing international standards. For companies active in the solar value chain, the new standard creates a “one-stop-shop to independently validate ESG commitment at production sites”.