Latest Solar Power News Global July'21

Latest Solar Power News from around the World

1. Mexico: The $100 million project is advancing, and the 2,000 acres where the project will be built, in Puerto Penasco. According to a recent study, only 1% of the state’s territory could provide all the power needed in the country. Mexico’s total energy consumption in 2020 was a little under 50 GW/h, according to CFE data. Mexico generates over 70% of its electricity using natural gas imported from the US. Roughly 12% of the federal government’s revenue comes from crude oil exports.
2. Record Efficiency: Researchers at Fraunhofer ISE have achieved a record conversion efficiency of 68.9 % for a III-V semiconductor photovoltaic cell based on gallium arsenide exposed to laser light of 858 nanometers. This is the highest efficiency achieved to date for the conversion of light into electricity.
3. Australia: Spark Renewables intends to develop a 2.5 GW hybrid wind, solar PV and battery storage project NSW’s South-West Renewable Energy Zone (REZ). The proposed project is in the early stages of planning with work to commence on preliminary studies and consultation in the coming months.
4. Desert to Power: The African Development Bank Group has approved a $6 million grant to launch the initial phase of the Desert to Power West Africa Regional Energy Program. The West Africa Regional Program will contribute to the overall target of 10,000 MW of new solar generation capacity, providing electricity access to 250 million people by 2030.
5. Australia’s Sun Tax:Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) in March proposed a change that could give network providers the power to charge people who export electricity into the grid at times when it is not needed. It argued the change was necessary to make room for more household solar systems and batteries to be connected to the grid, and to make the system fairer for all users.
6. Solar Value Deflection: The 37% decline in the value of solar in California is due to value deflation. Solar generation is concentrated in a relatively short period of the day. As the solar installation increases, the average wholesale price of power decreases during the mid-day hours, which reduces the value of both new and existing solar compared to other power generation sources. In California, the decline in mid-day electricity prices has reduced solar energy’s value, especially in the months of spring and fall.
7. Solar doesn’t build middle class: The green economy is shaping up to look less like the industrial workplace that lifted workers into the middle class in the 20th century than something more akin to an Amazon warehouse or a fleet of Uber drivers: grueling work schedules, few unions, middling wages and limited benefits.
8. 630 GW for net Zero: The New Energy Outlook 2021 report published by analyst BloombergNEF (BNEF) has declared the world must add 632 GW of solar per year for the next three decades, to attain a 20 TW global solar fleet in 2050.That solar and wind-friendly green route to capping global heating at a maximum 1.75 degrees Celsius this century, would also require 257 GWh of new battery energy storage capacity for the next 29 years, to reach 7.7 TWh in mid century.
9. Gallium Doping: Shining light on boron-filled silicon can make the quality of the silicon degrade. This is often referred to as “light-induced degradation”. The reason we have been stuck using boron instead of gallium over the past 20 years is that the process of doping silicon with gallium was locked under a patent. But these patents finally expired in May 2020.
10. Asia Dominance in PV: The Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of cumulative PV installations including off-grid was 34% between year 2010 to 2020. In the year 2020, producers from Asia accounted for 95% of total c-Si PV module production. China (mainland) holds the lead with a share of 67%. Europe contributed with a share of 3%; USA/CAN with 2%. The record lab cell efficiency is 26.7% for mono-crystalline and 24.4% for multi-crystalline silicon wafer-based technology. The highest lab efficiency in thin film technology is 23.4% for CIGS and 21.0% for CdTe solar cells. Record lab cell efficiency for Perovskite is 25.5%.