Solar Power First

Even with all the other points of focus in the country at present, the US has been surging ahead with its increase in battery storage capacity, achieving a 240% increase in additions made in Q3 of this year as compared to Q2 and closing in on 1.5 GW of overall battery storage capacity by the end of the year. Still, not content to rest on their laurels, renewable energy advocates in the US are looking to see this total increase fivefold before the end of 2025, with the aim of seeing a staggering 7.5 GW of storage capacity across the nation’s growing number of solar and wind farms. California alone has around 500 MW of storage projects currently under construction, in the hopes of supporting an area which has some of the highest energy costs in America. The range of environmental and economic benefits offered by renewable energy has definitely seen it capture the attention of many decision makers across the US. Felix Maire, a senior analyst at S&P Global Platts Analytics, summed up t...

Today we bring exciting news that Scottish Water, after 46 solar projects and 20 wind power projects, has unveiled plans for its first combined solar power and battery storage facility.  The £2 million project will be located close to Perth’s Waste Water Treatment Works on the River Tay and will be the largest single solar energy investment ever for the publicly-owned water company’s commercial subsidiary, Scottish Water Horizons. The project will see just over 2,500 solar panels installed on land close to the treatment works, with the two areas having a combined generation capacity of just over 1MW. Crucially it will be the first Scottish Water solar project that will also include battery storage, with the presence of four vanadium flow batteries (VFBs) that will offer the potential for storing up to 0.8MWh of energy.  The addition of battery storage to this site should allow for around 95% of the renewable energy that is generated to be used directly on the site. The project...

Another positive announcement for the global solar industry came with the news that there will soon be two new solar panel factories opening in Algeria, built by Milltech and Zergoun Green Energy and equipped to supply around 260 MWp of solar panels per year. Algeria’s energy commission Cerefe, standing for Commissariat aux énergies renouvelables et à l’efficacité énergétique, announced the new factories in its first annual report, published recently. Cerefe stated that the factory under construction in the industrial zone of Boukherana, which is around 250 miles from Algiers, could be commissioned before the end of the year. It belongs to Milltech and is projected to produce around 100 MWp of solar panels per year.  Milltech say of their solar production process: “Thanks to our ability to produce standard and high voltage modules in monocrystalline and polycrystalline technologies, glass-glass and bifacial modules, as well as half cut cell modules, we believe that our product seri...

Our team are used to covering positive stories around new solar projects and the environmental and economic benefits they can bring, but today’s story is a little different. Today we bring news of an enormous fine from the EU towards the Netherlands for allegedly evading duties they should have paid on solar imports. When we say enormous, we mean 659 MILLION EUROS enormous! The Netherlands are challenging the ruling, saying it is not justified. The charges relate to anti-dumping and countervailing duties that were allegedly avoided between May 2015 and March 2017, in relation to solar imports from  China, Malaysia and Taiwan. Such duties were introduced in 2013 as part of EU regulation on the growing solar industry.  The EU ruling suggests that the Netherlands failed to impose €824 million worth of anti-dumping  and countervailing duties on imports across the aforementioned 22 month period. They believe  an incorrect interpretation of the rules imposed by the Europe...

  If there’s one thing we know about Texas, it’s that it’s huge. If there’s another thing we know, it’s that it gets its fair share of sunshine. With that in mind, it makes it the perfect place for a large-scale solar project, which is exactly what Nestle are in the process of doing, a project that will prove to be their largest renewable energy investment to date. The solar project, which will cover around 2,000 acres, is making use of NextTracker components, Power Electronics’ Freesun HEM inverters and in the region of 855,000 Jinko Solar modules. The project, named Taygete I, has generated more than 300 jobs during peak construction. Over the life of the new construction, it is expected to generate tens of millions of dollars in property tax revenue for Texas. 7X Energy, who are a utility-scale solar developer, have partnered with Nestlé as the sole tax equity investor, with 7X also being the project owner and asset manager. Their CEO, Clay Butler, commented on the project, sayi...

  We’re always interested to hear about the different ways that nations are making use of solar, from homes, to offices to major industry, but one area we haven’t covered much to date is tourism and hospitality. That’s why it was so interesting to us to hear recently that Saudi Arabia appears to be planning what is claimed to be the world’s largest battery storage site, which they plan to use to power a huge new tourist complex by the Red Sea. The project, which is estimated to take a decade to reach its full completion, is being carried out by The Red Sea Development Company and is going to use an eventual 1GWh-worth of battery storage to ensure that the biggest holiday complex on the planet will be fully powered by renewable energy 24/7. The first phase will include the addition of 210MW in wind and solar generation, with the aim of being in place by 2022 and powering the 12 hotels and an airport that should be up and running by this point.   By the time the project culminat...

  We’ve covered a few different innovative and creative forms of solar panel designs here on the blog over the past few months, but it’s fair to say that today’s may be the most interesting one to date! Carvey Ehren Maigue, a student at Mapua University, has created a solar panel that involved retrieving the luminescent particles found in certain types of food waste and storing them in a resin substrate.This was done in the attempt to solve a key efficiency issue facing solar panels. Namely, their dependence on direct sunlight for peak performance.  It is claimed that Maigue’s design, known as the AuREUS system, is designed to continue harvesting light for solar energy generation almost half of the time, with many current panels only producing for 20-25% of the time. Maigue envisions his system working in the same way as the Northern Lights, hence the name AuREUS , derived from “aurora borealis.  A single AuREUS solar panel is roughly three feet tall and two feet wide, a ...

  We were expecting to see some major developments with regards to solar projects across the UK, particularly with the recent emphasis on solar energy as part of the UK’s ‘carbon neutral by 2050’ aim. That said, we weren’t expecting to see an announcement of a new project that is ten times the size of the UK’s previous record! That’s exactly what we got this week from InterGen, who have announced that they’ve been given planning approval for a battery storage project tol be built at DP World London Gateway on the Thames Estuary.  The project will cost around £200m and add up to 640MWh of capacity, with the potential to expand up to 1.3GWh, which would put it at ten times the size of the previous largest battery project in the UK. Given that solar panel installations are continuing to grow, solar battery storage installations need to keep pace if they are to make full use of solar generation in the UK. The majority of InterGen’s battery storage from this project will support st...

  2020 has been a year that will live long in the memory, sadly not for the best reasons. That said, many people, and many industries, have shown great resilience to help build towards a better future. We believe that the continued progression in the adoption of solar energy is one such positive. Reports in a number of national newspapers this week have claimed that 2020’s output in terms of the amount of energy generated from solar panels across the UK is already well past the previous record.  Since detailed records began around 10 years ago, there has been an upward trajectory for the most part, but even with the hardships faced by many, solar output has shown no sign of slowing. In fact, some of the specific elements of 2020 may even have helped aid solar generation.  In addition to a very sunny spring in the UK, there was also a significant reduction in pollution in many areas due to lockdowns. If you look at the industry 10 years ago, solar panels were cost-prohibi...

As we move further and further with the renewable energy revolution, the hope is that not only will we see individual homes or offices drawing the majority of their energy from solar generation, but also entire infrastructure. That’s why this latest piece of news we have to share is so exciting. It was recently announced that solar rail specialist Riding Sunbeams had been awarded over £2.5m as part of the South East Local Enterprise Partnership’s £85 million portion of the UK Government’s new ‘Getting Building Fund’. The grant will be utilised to build a solar farm which will in turn power the rail network between Eastbourne and London. It’s a hugely significant step to see such a prominent rail line rely on solar. The overall scheme is a £900 million UK-wide purse that is focused on funding local infrastructure projects, particularly those which drive economic growth and support green energy after the Covid-19 pandemic. The 3.75MW solar farm, known as Cuckmere Community Solar Farm, ha...

  We like to keep an eye on a range of different industry factors that are impacting solar for better or worse, and one potentially worrying one that caught our eye recently is to do with the availability of glass for solar production in the coming months.  Some of the world’s biggest solar power companies have stated that a shortage of glass is both increasing costs and delaying the speed of their production of new panels, which is hindering China’s - and possibly other nations - plans to accelerate their shift towards clean and renewable energy. Price levels for the type of glass that coats solar panels have risen by a staggering 71% since July, with glass manufacturers struggling to produce it fast enough to keep more than a week’s worth of sales in inventory, according to Daiwa Capital Markets.  The shortage comes as the solar industry turns toward bifacial panels, which increase both power output and glass requirements. Solar panel producers like Longi Green Energy ...

Purchasing your own yacht has long been a signature move for those who move into the multi-millionaire bracket, but are you aware that a new breed of eco-friendly yachts are now on offer? I’m not suggesting that any of us are in the market to buy one, although I don’t want to discount the possibility that we may have multi-millionaires within our readership! Either way, we thought it was an interesting story to read about some of the environmentally-friendly customisations that can be made to modern yachts. One such yacht that has been ghe 60 Sunreef Power Eco yacht also has an electric engine and could be the future of environmentally friendly sea travel for those willing to splash out on a catamaran. The yacht is said to provide silent and vibration-free cruising. Its twin engines are powered by battery storage. They are said to allow for up to six hours of cruising in silence before they'll need charging with further solar energy. The batteries can also power all the appliances ...

As the solar industry continues to become more established, one area that is now becoming an increasing consideration is that of recycling. Whether it is homeowners who joined the solar revolution 15 to 20 years ago and now need their panels replaced, or large-scale projects who are replacing their solar panels and solar battery storage for the latest technology, solar recycling is now a key provision. A recent report from Infiniti Research Limited has been monitoring the solar panel recycling market and found that it is poised to grow by around £180m over the next five years, growing at around 28% compound annual growth rate during the forecast period.  The report on the solar panel recycling market provides a holistic analysis on market size and forecasts, key trends, growth drivers and challenges, including a supplier analysis covering around 25 suppliers. One of its main conclusions is that the solar recycling market is being driven by the growth in solar PV panel installation...

While many industries have been hit hard by the impacts of COVID-19, with some even becoming obsolete, solar is certainly one that is continuing to grow in its impact and importance. There are many countries who are leading the way with solar panel production and widespread implementation, but it is China who has been making many of the most large-scale moves, often alongside international partners. This is certainly the case with a new production centre opening in Brazil. The Brazilian arm of Amerisolar, a Chinese maker of solar panels, will open a new factory in early 20201, with the new site it is building being near the southeastern Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte, as reported by Brazilian media outlet Estado de Minas.  The Brazilian newspaper says the factory will employ 100 people directly and help create up to 2,200 new jobs in other companies. The story also says that the factory is meant to produce 30,000 panels a month, with around half of them likely to be used for exp...

  We’re always interested to hear about new innovations with regards to solar, so when we heard about the idea of generating solar power in space, it’s fair to say we were intrigued! Millions of British homes could be powered by a giant solar power station 24,000 miles up in space within three decades, under proposals being considered by the government. Under the plan, a system of five huge satellites – each more than a mile wide, covered in solar panels and weighing several thousand tonnes – would deliver laser beams of energy down to Earth. These would provide up to 15% of the country’s electricity supply by 2050, enough to power 4 million households – with the first space energy expected to be delivered as soon as 2040. Each satellite would be made from tens of thousands of small modules, propelled into space through 200 separate rocket launches, and then steadily assembled by robots once they are in orbit!   The satellites would use thousands of mirrors to concentrate the ...

  In an interesting announcement from Sudan’s Ministry of Energy, a yet-to-be-announced solar company from the UAE has agreed to construct several large scale solar plants across the African nation.  Khairy Abdul Rahmanhas, who is Sudan’s minister of energy and mining, met with the general director of the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development , Mohamed Saif Al Suwaidi, last week to sign a memorandum of understanding for the construction of these solar power plants.  In an exciting move, these new projects will become Sudan’s first solar parks and will offer a combined solar capacity of 500 MW in Sudan. The Sudanese government plan to purchase the generated electricity at a competitive price over the next 20 years from these solar parks which will be built by UAE-based companies.  Sudan has, up to now, had one of the lowest levels of solar production in Africa, despite having one of the best levels for solar radiation of any nation in the world, so it was a prime location fo...

We’re always on the lookout for the more weird and wonderful locations that are being made use of as solar projects, so we were definitely interested to hear that Australia’s largest free-range chicken farm launched a big solar and storage system earlier this month. The chicken-adjacent project offers 1.4 MW of rooftop solar and 2.28 MWh of energy storage, utilising five lithium-ion batteries. The project in question is the Riverlands Free Range poultry farm in South Australia, which happens to be the nation’s largest free-range chicken farm. AAM – the investment group which owns the farm – have made the move to add 1.4 MW of solar panels and a 2.28 MWh Tesla lithium-ion battery system alongside an announcement that it is the largest energy storage system installed on a commercial farm in Australia. AAM’s managing director, Garry Edwards and his colleague Ben Edser revealed that the entire solar sustainability project cost in the region of 5 million Australian dollars, which is roughly...

  Yes, you did read that title correctly! A major financial research company has claimed that it is now cheaper to build an entirely new solar facility than to persist with a coal or natural gas plant in many locations. That seems like quite the claim, but BloombergNEF has stated with confidence that within the next five years, it will actually be more costly to operate existing coal or natural gas power plants than it will be to construct a new solar or wind energy facility. This is supported by a recent report from the International Energy Agency which found that solar energy will soon replace coal as the cheapest source of electricity. The IEA’s World Energy Outlook has stated that solar energy is going to be at the forefront of a huge increase in renewables over the next decade, with up to 80% of the world’s electricity likely to be sourced through renewables in the not too distant future. With solar technology constantly improving, as well as solar panel cost continuing to be...

Tesla has been a popular option in the solar world since its first forays into the industry. Obviously they came in with a lot of fanfare, not least due to the profile of their founder Elon Musk, but it seems for the most part they have really followed through with the quality and reliability of their products. With this success at play, they have recently increased the price of the Powerwall, their signature home battery pack, due to the fact that it is still in huge demand. In addition to Tesla’s strong reputation, there appear to be a few key factors at work presently that are adding to the demand for home solar storage. One key reason is that electric grids across the US are having their stability challenged by heatwaves, in some cases leading to power blackouts such as in California. An increasing number of homeowners are going with home battery packs in order to ensure they can access backup power. This increased demand has led Tesla to prioritise Powerwall installations as part ...

  A new report, produced by the Environment America Research & Policy Center and entitled “Renewables on the Rise 2020,” has found that the US produces 30-times as much solar energy in 2019 as it did in 2010. Now that’s a trend we can get behind! The report actually documents the developments within several of the clean energy industries over the past 10 years: solar, wind, battery storage, energy efficiency and electric vehicles. A key factor in the growth in renewable energy utilisation has been the adoption of battery storage, with improved technology and reduced smart battery cost seeing a 20-fold increase since 2010. Even further benefit comes in the fact that energy consumption per person has actually declined in the US over the past decade thanks to increased energy efficiency, including more than one million electric vehicles on US roads. Susan Rakov, the current chair of Environment America Research and Policy Center’s Clean Energy program, shared: “People have always...