Solar ... In the news

zeupater

Coastalwatch said:

zeupater said:

Hi

But .... don't they know that with Germany not being on the equator all of this solar will be a useless waste of money and will generate absolutely nothing  .... wahhhh, wahhhh, wahhhh ..... and even louder .... WAHHH .....

Mind though, it's been a pretty dull day here today, some sunny spells but not a lot .... and until MrsZ started reducing the pile of ironing a few minutes ago, most of the energy we've used today has still been within a little over 8minutes of creation in a far distant fusion reaction ....

Z - 

How jolly fortunate we are that it's actually eight minutes away and not somewhere much closer!

Hi

Yes, but just think of the performance of the panels & the associated FiT income if it were 10% closer .... ~20% insolation improvement & we'd at least be able to test the validity of various climate models .... 

HTH -Z

Martyn1981

Some good news on solar install costs, as prices start to decline, but the embedded graphs do show the scary spike that hit UK householders.

UK consumer solar costs have dropped 13% in last six months

Residential solar marketplace Otovo says solar installation prices fell by 13% in a six month period to March 2023 for British households.

According to consumer standards organisation MCS, home solar installations are at a seven year high, with 60,000 installations completed in Q1 2023, the highest-performing quarter since Q4 2015. This is a 114% increase on the same quarter last year. 

Martyn1981

Great idea, but not the prettiest design, yet!

1st Solar Bike Path In Germany Is Now Live

This is one of those combos that always seems like a cleantech solution made in heaven: bike paths covered by simple solar PV roofs. Bikers, using the cleanest mode of transportation on Earth, get a little relief from the sun or protection from the rain while also being separated from the roadway and protected from drivers. As for the solar power, it’s easy to install (read: cheap), doesn’t take away space from other uses, and gets to shine in public view.

Solar PV bike paths are not ubiquitous, though. In fact, they’re rare. But Germany just got its first one, and maybe that’s a sign of many more to come in the country. Also, recall that Germany has been a solar PV trendsetter in the past, largely kickstarting the rooftop solar PV revolution.

This solar PV bike path was installed by green energy company Badenova. It is in southern Germany, in the city of Freiburg, near SC Freiburg’s football stadium. SC Freiburg’s stadium is already covered in solar panels — heterojunction solar panels from Meyer Burger. (SC Freiburg is currently sitting 5th in the Bundesliga, trying to edge its way into the top 4 for a place in the UEFA Champions League next year.)

The solar PV system totals 287 kW in capacity. It uses 900 Solarwatt translucent glass-glass solar modules. These solar modules are especially made and tested for applications such as this.

Martyn1981

Not exactly big news, but I thought a solar tiled gazebo kit (for the USA) was fun news. More and more products are popping up that normalize PV, which must be a good thing.

Solar gazebo provides up to 4.3 kW of backyard generating capacity

Just in time for the summer barbecuing season, Arka Energy is debuting the PowerGazebo to residential solar installers and consumers across the United States. The outdoor gazebo provides 2.4 kW to 4.3 kW of solar power via monocrystalline PERC mounted solar tiles. The backyard solar system offers a functional solution for households seeking a home generating solution, who may not have adequate rooftop space for conventional rooftop solar.

Utilizing 14 watts per square foot of solar capacity, the PowerGazebo can be ordered in 180 or 312 square foot configurations. According to product specifications, Arka Energy’s solar gazebo is installed with a 25-year solar tile warranty, while its assembly is rated to withstand storm winds of 120 miles per hour.

Arka Energy

Exiled_Tyke

More publicity for the way we all know we need to head.  Sadly grid connection problems yet again identified as a sticking point though.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65626371

Martyn1981

Great news for Perovskite ..... but still a few years to go.

So, we have ever greater efficiency levels, and a technology that's cheaper, but overcoming the high/fast degradation issue hasn't completely been solved yet. But, this article talks about production lines beeing operational in 2024, and reaching commercialization in 2026.

Just to say that the biggest gains, will probably be in energy production, rather than cost. Whilst PV costs continue to fall, tandem PV (silicon/perovskite) may not be cheaper per Wp, but being able to install 30% to 50% more output for the same area of roof/field, will improve economics significantly.

I'm out of date now due to all the price hikes and inflation with current Ukraine related issues, but previously the panels represented about 30% of the cost for a solar farm, and about 50% of the cost for demand side roof mounted. So, if the output of that solar farm could be increased by 50%, with a corresponding 50% increase in 'only'* the panel costs, then you have +50% output for +15% cost. 

*I assume there will be some small increases in other costs (cables, inverters, connection size etc), but not large. Also those are CAPEX, I'm assuming (guessing(?)) no increase in OPEX, since the sost of land, security, fencing, maintenance etc, won't have changed much.

New Perovskite Solar Cells: How Low (And How Fast) Can Solar Go?

The cost of solar power has been dropping like a rock, and apparently we ain’t seen nothing yet. New low-cost perovskite solar cells are finally beginning to bump their way into the solar market. One promising pathway involves a piggyback with silicon technology, and thin film is also in play.

a will host the new tandem line at its Jincheon factory in South Korea, and it is not letting the grass grow under its feet. The line should be up and running by late 2024, with commercialization expected 2026.

Raxiel

zeupater said:

Hi

But .... don't they know that with Germany not being on the equator all of this solar will be a useless waste of money and will generate absolutely nothing  .... wahhhh, wahhhh, wahhhh ..... and even louder .... WAHHH .....

Mind though, it's been a pretty dull day here today, some sunny spells but not a lot .... and until MrsZ started reducing the pile of ironing a few minutes ago, most of the energy we've used today has still been within a little over 8minutes of creation in a far distant fusion reaction ....

Z - 

~8 minutes since it escaped the sun and was able to cross the vacuum of space. It can take around a hundred thousand years for that light to reach the surface of the sun after its creation in the core.

Yes, I know I'm a nerd.

gefnew

Maybe this is how we do it as well.
Why car parks are the hottest space in solar power - BBC News

Martyn1981

Exiled_Tyke said:

More publicity for the way we all know we need to head.  Sadly grid connection problems yet again identified as a sticking point though.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65626371

Been thinking about this, the point you raise and the comment in the article:

One hiccup facing many renewable energy projects at the moment is a lack of grid connections, since surplus energy generated by solar panels, for example, must be handled by the grid. Billions of pounds worth of renewable installations are effectively on hold because of this issue, according to BBC research.

Obviously a problem for 'isolated' car parks (such as not having an associated building / leccy consumption), but we do have a huge number of supermarkets who hopefully tick all the boxes. They will have car parks, a large leccy connection, and very large leccy consumption 100% of the time. Even if they are closed (rare during daylight periods), the freezers and chillers will be consuming a lot of power. So worst case, they could agree to a zero export limit for any ocassion when generation exceeds demand .... I think?

Not a solution for all (or even most) I appreciate, but at least it's something, and you know me .... always looking for the positive.  

Martyn1981

I thought it was already known that solar farms boost bio-diversity, but the final paragraph explains what I was missing:

“This report confirms what we have known anecdotally for many years: well-designed and well-managed solar farms can help address the climate emergency and loss of biodiversity in the UK,” said Rachel Hayes, Consents and ESG Policy Manager at Solar Energy UK.

‘UK solar farms can be wildlife havens’

The first results of a national survey of wildlife on solar farms has found they are home to many declining species – with most seen on those specifically managed for conservation.

Insects living around ground-mounted photovoltaic panels could also benefit neighbouring agriculture by enhancing the number of available pollinators, the report concludes.