Solar ... In the news

EVandPV

Electricity from thin air.
One application for this tech is to work alongside pv to boost the efficiency panels lose through heat.

https://newatlas.com/mit-thermal-resonator-temperature-changes-electricity/53456/

Martyn1981

Some extracts from this week's Carbon Commentary Newsletter:

4, India floating solar. India’s 18,000 square kilometres of reservoirs could provide the area for about 280 GW of solar panels, said a new report this week. To give a sense of scale, at British sun levels that would cover almost all British electricity needs. More relevantly, would add about 70% to total Indian generation capacity and could provide about 40% of today’s Indian demand. And it would reduce evaporation loss.

[Sorry to be picky/pedantic, but at British sun levels, I'd suggest that would generate about 280TWh of leccy, so around 80% of UK demand, but at Indian levels, perhaps 450TWh, so around 130%. Just for further context. Or to put it another way, one hell of a lot of PV generation.]

Martyn1981

Some extract(s) from this weeks Carbon Commentary newsletter:

7, Avoiding lead pollution from perovskite solar cells. The advance of perovskite technology to commercial viability, either in tandem with silicon or as a single cell, has been held up by two main concerns: long-term durability and the risk of lead leakage from the cells. A new paper from a university and a US national laboratory has shown how an absorptive layer can minimise potential layer by sequestering lead in the event of a breakage, such as during a hail strike. Alongside other recent research, this innovation helps clear the way to widespread use of cheap perovskites although moving to commercial manufacturing is proving slow. Oxford PV, the leader in perovskite technology, is aiming for full-scale production at the end of the year.

Pile_o_stone

Martyn1981 said:

Some extracts from this week's Carbon Commentary Newsletter:

4, India floating solar. India’s 18,000 square kilometres of reservoirs could provide the area for about 280 GW of solar panels, said a new report this week. To give a sense of scale, at British sun levels that would cover almost all British electricity needs. More relevantly, would add about 70% to total Indian generation capacity and could provide about 40% of today’s Indian demand. And it would reduce evaporation loss.

[Sorry to be picky/pedantic, but at British sun levels, I'd suggest that would generate about 280TWh of leccy, so around 80% of UK demand, but at Indian levels, perhaps 450TWh, so around 130%. Just for further context. Or to put it another way, one hell of a lot of PV generation.]

I really like the idea of floating PV panels on reservoirs (we have one in Manchester) as they sit in a space that would otherwise be unused and the panels are probably cooled by air currents circulating off the water, making them more efficient in summer. 

Solarchaser

Pile_o_stone said:

Martyn1981 said:

Some extracts from this week's Carbon Commentary Newsletter:

4, India floating solar. India’s 18,000 square kilometres of reservoirs could provide the area for about 280 GW of solar panels, said a new report this week. To give a sense of scale, at British sun levels that would cover almost all British electricity needs. More relevantly, would add about 70% to total Indian generation capacity and could provide about 40% of today’s Indian demand. And it would reduce evaporation loss.

[Sorry to be picky/pedantic, but at British sun levels, I'd suggest that would generate about 280TWh of leccy, so around 80% of UK demand, but at Indian levels, perhaps 450TWh, so around 130%. Just for further context. Or to put it another way, one hell of a lot of PV generation.]

I really like the idea of floating PV panels on reservoirs (we have one in Manchester) as they sit in a space that would otherwise be unused and the panels are probably cooled by air currents circulating off the water, making them more efficient in summer. 

You would imagine the panels on the water, stopping the sun hitting the water would aid in retaining more of the reservoir water too, rather than losing some to evaporation on hot days.

Remembering a project on a reservoir in cali being filled with black spheres to hinder evaporation.
https://api.nationalgeographic.com/distribution/public/amp/news/2015/08/150812-shade-balls-los-angeles-California-drought-water-environment

Pile_o_stone

Solarchaser said:

You would imagine the panels on the water, stopping the sun hitting the water would aid in retaining more of the reservoir water too, rather than losing some to evaporation on hot days.

I would think it also reduced the growth of algae and other vegetation in the water too.

Pile_o_stone

I've seen this combination of solar panels and agriculture before but I didn't realise it resulted in such big yields and that it is becoming so popular, especially in Japan. I also really like the model where neighbours can invest in the panels and receive a credit on their utility bill (I assume this means receive discount) and where the crops are sold in a community farm where produce is exchanged.

https://grist.org/food/cash-strapped-farms-are-growing-a-new-crop-solar-panels/

"In a recent test in Arizona, scientists compared crops planted under solar panels with those grown in direct sunlight. They found that total fruit production for red chiltepin peppers was three times higher on the plots under the panels, and cherry tomatoes doubled production. Some of these plants used significantly less irrigation water, in part because the shaded soil retained more moisture. Solar panels placed with plants were also substantially cooler during the day — and therefore operated more efficiently — than the usual ground-mounted arrays"

"Early field tests showed that Swiss chard, broccoli, and similar vegetables produced about 60 percent more volume compared to plants beneath a full sun."

Martyn1981

Pile_o_stone said:

Solarchaser said:

You would imagine the panels on the water, stopping the sun hitting the water would aid in retaining more of the reservoir water too, rather than losing some to evaporation on hot days.

I would think it also reduced the growth of algae and other vegetation in the water too.

Also (there's more?) I think one of the black ball installs was done on a local reservoir, where the water has already been 'processed' and chlorinated. Turns out that the sunshine on the chlorinated water causes a reaction that causes a carcinogenic chemical to form. The water was tested after treatment and was absolutely fine (below limits) but then they found that the tap water was above limits, and realised the problem was the intermediate storage reservoir.

So almost no end of benefits to floating PV and the tasks it can help with or solve.

Martyn1981

African solar and storage, what's not to love.

Azelio adds storage to Saharan solar

Azelio has completed the installation of a storage facility at the 580MW Noor Ouarzazate solar complex in Morocco.

Azelio said it has developed the solution in tandem with storage outfit Masen to efficiently store renewable energy from solar and wind power and make it available all hours of the day as electricity and heat.

Martyn1981

Extracts from this weeks Carbon Commentary newsletter:

8, Rooftop solar in Australia. Although the rate of installation of utility solar has fallen in some countries, including Australia, smaller installations have continued to increase sharply. Over 400 MW was put on roofs in the first two months of the year, with February setting a new monthly record and domestic 6-8 kilowatt installs showing particular strength. At the current rate of construction, this year’s new rooftop panels alone will supply over 10% of midday demand on the sunniest days. (I saw this on the excellent OneStepOffTheGrid site).