Researchers at Oxford are developing ultra-thin, portable solar panels from perovskites, cheaper and more efficient than silicon-based panels

Revolutionary’ portable solar panels being developed

Portable solar panels, which could be used on-the-go to charge devices, are being developed by university researchers.

At the National Thin-Film Cluster Facility (NTCF) for Advanced Functional Materials in Oxford, scientists are creating ultra-thin solar panels from perovskites.

According to researchers, perovskite solar panels are cheaper and more effective than those made purely from silicon and can be produced at a smaller size.

Prof Henry Snaith, from the University of Oxford’s physics department, said the new technology will “basically mean you’re going to be able to generate power in more places”.

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Source: BBC

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Two weeks after Hurricane Helene, volunteers are providing solar power to hard-hit areas in NC, helping those affected by the storm.

Volunteers bring solar power to North Carolina communities still lacking electricity after Hurricane Helene

Two weeks after Hurricane Helene tore through the southeastern United States, killing hundreds of people across multiple states and knocking out electricity for millions, volunteers are bringing solar power to hard-hit areas in North Carolina.

Helene made landfall Sept. 26 as a powerful Category 4 storm, causing disastrous flooding and landslides that destroyed neighborhoods and left at least 225 dead in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. North Carolina’s death toll accounted for around half of all of the victims as the hurricane brought several days of severe, torrential rainfall to the western part of the state. Around 1.5 million electricity customers in that region lost power during the storm, and many remain without it in Helene’s aftermath.

For Bobby Renfro, the constant din of a gas-powered generator is getting to be too much.

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Source: CBS News

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CAISO hit a record battery discharge of 8.3 GW on October 9, with 177 GW in the energy storage queue and 1.9 GW expected by year-end.

California installs 10 GW of utility-scale batteries

The California Independent System Operator (CAISO), which manages about 80% of California’s electricity, has connected 10.219 GW of utility-scale energy storage to its managed power grid as of the first day of October this year.

The data was released as part of the ISO’s Key Statistics report for September 2024. The 10.2 GW value was a 0.9 GW increase from August’s 9.3 GW on the grid, and a greater than 3 GW jump from the 7.1 GW that was connected as of the state of 2024.

In the month following energy storage capacity records being set, there are now battery use records being set. According to Gridstatus.io’s record page, CAISO has set multiple battery charge and discharge records in the six days prior to this article being written.

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Source: PV Magazine

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Amazon is focusing on wind and solar for green power in Asia, unlike other tech firms exploring nuclear energy for data centers.

Amazon prefers renewables in Asia as nuclear still elusive

Amazon.com Inc. is currently only looking at wind and solar to offer green power for projects in Asia, even as global technology companies begin examining nuclear generation to supply energy-hungry data centers.

“We’re going where we can procure today, and that’s renewables” in the region, said Ken Haig, APAC regional head of energy and environmental policy at Amazon Web Services. “Is it possible to procure nuclear power in this part of the world? Not yet.”

This is in contrast to the US, where tech titans including Amazon and Microsoft Corp. are turning to nuclear energy to fuel their power-hungry data centers. The technology provides low-carbon electricity around the clock, a key benefit over intermittent wind and solar.

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Source: Bloomberg

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The IEA says renewables are on course to meet almost half of global electricity demand by 2030, with solar driving 80% of capacity growth.

IEA forecasts over 4,000 GW of new solar by 2030

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The International Energy Agency (IEA) is predicting over 4,000 GW of new solar will be added worldwide by the end of the decade.

The agency’s flagship report, “Renewables 2024,” says the world is set to add more than 5,500 GW of new renewables capacity between 2024 and 2030, to reach a cumulative capacity of almost 11,000 GW.

The prediction indicates solar will account for 80% of renewables growth over the 6-year period. Utility-scale solar will account for the majority of the solar expansion, but distributed applications, encompassing residential, commercial, industrial and off-grid projects, are expected to make up almost 40% of new solar.

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Source: PV Magazine

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Researchers from China have designed a novel building-integrated photovoltaics system that integrates a layer of PCM on each side of the wall

Building-integrated photovoltaic system integrating PCM on sides

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Researchers from China have designed a novel building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) system that integrates a layer of phase change material (PCM) on each side of the wall.

Dubbed double-PCM BIPV composite envelope (BIPV-dPCM), the new system was experimentally validated via a numerical model and was compared to reference systems. Per the results, it achieved superior thermoelectric coupling performance compared to all of the other systems.

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Source: PV Magazine

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Vertical solar panels are proving to be a new solution for northern regions, yielding 20 per cent more energy than traditional panels.

Norway’s national football stadium has the world’s largest vertical solar roof

Norway’s national football stadium carries a lesser-known star attraction: 1,242 solar panels stretching across the roof.

These are not traditional flat roof panels. The mini, square-shaped solar panels have two key features that distinguish them from those typically seen on buildings: they are bifacial, meaning they have two active sides, and they are installed vertically.

In June 2024, Ullevaal Stadium in Oslo became home to the world’s largest vertical solar panel installation on a roof, placing the stadium at the forefront of renewable energy innovation.

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Source: Euro News

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Walmart announced to invest in 74 Solar Landscape community solar projects in MD and IL, creating nearly 43 MWDC of solar capacity.

Walmart invests in 74 rooftop community solar projects in two states

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Walmart announced it will invest in 74 Solar Landscape community solar projects in Maryland and Illinois.

The commercial rooftop projects are currently under construction and are expected to be energized in 2024 and 2025. They will create nearly 43 MWDC of solar capacity for the surrounding communities, enough power to serve the equivalent of over 3,600 homes.

Approximately half of the portfolio is designed to reduce energy costs for low- and moderate-income (LMI) households. In total, Solar Landscape estimates that the projects will save subscribers about $1 million annually on energy bills.

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Source: Solar Power World

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By 2023, off-grid solar solutions provided electricity to 560M people, needing more investment to help 398 million in energy poverty by 2030.

660 million will lack electricity access by 2030, off-grid solar could provide power for 398 million

By the end of 2023, off-grid solar solutions helped deliver electricity access to 560 million people worldwide, and further investment in the sector will be essential to provide “the most cost-effective” way to provide electricity to around 398 million people, almost 60% of those who are expected to be in energy poverty by 2030.

These are the headline takeaways from a report published by the World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) and the Global Association for the off-grid solar energy industry (GOGLA). The study, ‘Off-grid solar market trends report 2024’, finds that the number of people living in energy poverty reached 685 million in 2022, and that, based on current trends, 660 million people will have no access to electricity by the end of the decade.

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Source: PV Tech

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Trina Solar has launched the first fully recycled silicon solar panel, using 37 patented technologies to reclaim materials from old modules.

China just solved the biggest problem in silicon photovoltaics by creating 100% recycled panels

Trina Solar has given a new twist to the sustainability of the photovoltaic industry with the world’s first fully recycled silicon solar panel, proving that it is possible to reuse them without compromising their efficiency. For context, solar panels last two to three decades before degrading significantly. The problem then is that they cannot be fully recycled or their refurbishment is very expensive.

Chinese manufacturer Trina Solar has created the first fully recycled crystalline silicon photovoltaic panel. The secret lies in the 37 recycling technologies patented by its researchers, which allow silicon, aluminium, glass and even silver to be separated and reused from discarded modules to assemble a new functional and equally efficient panel.

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Source: Reve

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