Solar ... In the news

EricMears

thevilla said:

Can't help thinking that while we're trapping too much solar energy in the atmosphere maybe we don't need to redirect more of it?

Direct 'sunlight' has a considerable proportion of heat energy.   This sort of scheme no doubt hopes to provide more energy but less heat ?

thevilla

EricMears said:

thevilla said:

Can't help thinking that while we're trapping too much solar energy in the atmosphere maybe we don't need to redirect more of it?

Direct 'sunlight' has a considerable proportion of heat energy.   This sort of scheme no doubt hopes to provide more energy but less heat ?

It all ends up has heat in the end.  That's physics for you.

Martyn1981

NREL have updated their PV efficiency chart. Article about it here.

What did stand out for me was the kick up in the Perovskite / Silicon tandem number to ~30%. Obviously this will be lab numbers, and I assume the relatively high degradation rates for Perovskite are still a big problem .... but .... my fingers still remain crossed that it will be on the market by the end of this decade. If the cost is comparable to Silicon on a per Wp basis, then that will be a massive jump in generation for any given surface area (~50%), and a reduction in cost per kWh generated.

Add in bigger and better wind turbines, and the future is looking good, with falling costs in real terms.

Most Efficient Solar Cells Graph Gets Upgraded

The most-frequently opened page on NREL’s website, the “Best Research-Cell Efficiency Chart,” has become more interesting. The upgraded version offers more advanced chart customization technology. With the new interactive version, researchers can search, access, and create anything from comparisons. NREL reports the new interactive version can pull up decades of research data and compare custom charts that focus on specific technologies or time periods.

Martyn1981

Oops, missed a biggie!

I've been so interested in Perovskite/Silicon tandem cells over the years, that I haven't really pointed out the potential benefits of Perovskite alone. Again looking at the chart, whilst Perovskite is very much a baby, only being around for ~10yrs, it's already reached/passed the efficiency levels of Silicon, at around 22-24%.

But, Perovskite doesn't like sunlight, which is 'a little unfortunate' to say the least. But, as it's incredibly cheap, and versatile, can even be used in ink, so panels can be printed, then it's great for less obvious uses - such as bus or trailer roofs, odd shaped structures like large gas and oil storage tanks etc..

I don't know where the sweet spot is for cheap Perovskite v's shorter life expectancy*, but hopefully that's on the cards this decade.

*Life expectancy has increased from mins/hrs to 1,000's of hrs in sunlight, but that's still a very short time v's Silicon panels. Some lab results this year suggest 30yrs with clever added layers, but again, these are lab test results, not economic/marketable PV .... yet.

Coastalwatch

Obviously there's is much to resolve, but still a step in the right direction for a sustainable circular economy which should be our aim in all areas of manufacture. Although I think it might be a tad optimistic to suggest a new solar based industry could be born as a result. But who knows!

Solar panels with discarded ‘black gold’ from wafer production

A European consortium is trying to reuse discarded silicon powder from ingot and wafer manufacturing in several industrial applications, including PV production. The group is now identifying ways to decontaminate such materials.

The group is working under the umbrella of the EU-funded Icarus project, which aims to develop modular processing solutions to recover 95% of high-value raw materials from silicon ingot and wafer production via fluidized bed (FBR) reactors based on the so-called Siemens process.

“It’s possible to recover this material as part of the production process,” said researcher Martin Bellmann. “And maybe this will enable us to establish a new solar-based industry in Europe.”

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2022/11/30/solar-panels-with-discarded-black-gold-from-wafer-production/

Screwdriva

https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinese-solar-manufacturers-dodged-u-s-tariffs-probe-finds-11669952820

Looks like BYD, Canadian Solar, Trina and Vina (LONGi) have been very naughty.

"Trina and Vina will face 254% tariffs as the department determined the companies failed to demonstrate their independence from the Chinese Communist Party"

Atleast now, the Trina fanboys know who their purchases may be supporting!

Martyn1981

Phew, bit of common sense applied, thank goodness.

UK ministers rule out new solar restrictions for England

Rishi Sunak’s administration has signalled it will support the growth of solar farms in England and has rejected the prospect of an effective ban put forward under former Prime Minister Liz Truss.

Two ministers ruled out extending planning protections for high-grade farmland to moderate quality 3b land, as had been floated by former Environment Secretary Ranil Jayawardena.

Speaking to the Commons’ Environment Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey backed “a lot more” solar generation on farms, including on 3b land.

She also raised a challenge that solar farms commonly face – connecting to the grid.

Coffey earlier told the MPs that that she would be driven by the evidence on land use and food security.

Coastalwatch

Didn't take long Mart! As demonstrated by this Government minister when approving the application regarding solar generation and energy storage  by approving on appeal the application previously declined by District council. Interesting too that the land classification, 3B, controversially in the news recently was given as reason for approval. Not to mention another unsubstantiated claim by a local opposition group.

On the back of it I wonder if an appeal on the recent rejection of a similar application in West Suffolk might also be launched. After all it's sitting MP has rather a large carbon footprint to dissolve following his recent and unauthorised trip to Australia!

JBM Solar has 49.9MW solar farm in Devon approved on appeal

JBM Solar has had a planning appeal for a 49.9MW solar farm in Langford, Devon, successfully approved becoming “one of the first” to be greenlit under the Sunak government.

The project, which now will be developed across 61 hectares of land, will incorporate battery energy storage system (BESS) assets into the project to maximise the effectiveness of the project. The project was approved on appeal by Housing and Planning minister Lucy Frazer.

The Langford solar project had been rejected due to various concerns raised by the Mid Devon District Council which included the visual impact of the solar PV project on the “character and appearance” of the landscape, the effect on Langford Court a designated heritage asset, the effect on the loss of agricultural land, and the safety of the BESS asset.

The project will form part of JBM’s commitment to deliver a 2GW UK solar pipeline in the next three years.

The appeal document stated: “CPRE maintained (without evidence) that much of the land is grade 3A. Based on the unchallenged evidence of the appellant, it is clear that the highest some parts of the site could aspire to is 3B – and it is most likely to be lower than that. On that basis, the loss of this land, even if it were a permanent and total loss, would not receive policy protection”.

Commenting on the notes from the planning appeal on the use of farmlands, Hewett said: “The planning inspector’s report was right to dismiss the unwarranted and unevidenced claims that the land is high-grade farmland, when the opposite is clearly the case.

“He also noted that there is ‘nothing to demonstrate that sheep grazing would be unlikely to occur’ between the panels, again contrary to claims from one local opposition group.

https://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/news/jbm_solar_has_49.9mw_solar_farm_in_devon_approved_on_appeal

Martyn1981

One of those 'good news, but why wouldn't you' stories.

Solar panels will be mandatory on new homes in Tokyo

Tokyo’s local assembly today ruled that all new houses built by large-scale homebuilders in the Japanese capital must have solar panels installed from April 2025.

This is the first time a Japanese municipality has mandated solar on new homes. It means that around 50 major builders will be required to supply homes that are up to 21,500 square feet (2,000 square meters) in size with renewables – and in particular, solar panels.

ABrass

More Big Australian batteries are coming to manage the huge amount of Australian domestic solar.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/dec/17/eight-batteries-to-be-built-around-australia-to-increase-renewable-energy-storage-capacity

All in the 200-300MW range, duration isn't stated directly but it implies they'll be around 3.6GWh in total, so only a few hours at max power each.