A new technical study that is more detailed and extensive than previously achieved, the US Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has significantly increased the potential for US building rooftops to generate electricity from solar PV (photovoltaics) systems.
Yaskawa – Solectria Solar, a wholly-owned subsidiary of robot and industrial motor company Yaskawa America, is planning to install a 500MW central solar inverter manufacturing line within an existing factory in Sao Paulo, Brazil, to help support the Latin American PV market.
Puerto Rico’s financially troubled electric power authority PREPA will install a large-scale battery park at a 10MW PV farm, to help integrate the farm’s output and other renewables.
SunPower has launched its ‘Equinox’ solar PV system to the US residential market that is claimed to be the first solution in the country in which every major component has been designed and engineered by one company to work seamlessly together, delivering the highest power, long-term performance and aesthetic appeal. With a typical SunPower Equinox installation, only the solar panels and a Smart Energy management device are visible, reflecting SunPower's minimalist architectural approach at the system level.
In common with every other PV market in the world as it matures, attaining grid parity for the technology is the ultimate goal for Japan. As an electricity market in general, meeting electrical supply with demand will of course become ever-more important.
Last month Israeli inverter manufacturer SolarEdge revealed it had sold its 10 millionth power optimiser. With half of those shipped in 2015, there appears to have been a discernible change in attitudes recently toward module-level power technologies. SolarEdge’s Lior Handelsman explains why.
PV microinverter producer Enphase Energy has secured more than 20MW of orders with long-standing customer, Spruce Finance for its owned and operated residential solar systems in the US.
Australia’s second largest PV plant, the 56MW Moree Solar Farm in Northern New South Wales, developed by Spanish firm Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV), has started feeding power to the grid.
Holland’s national grid operator has said that batteries will be an “excellent alternative” to conventional power plants in providing balancing services, especially as a complement to increased solar and wind deployment.
