Solar ... In the news

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/dec/18/solar-power-energy-firms-government

Interesting that large industrial companies are recognising the benefits of solar energy and using their muscle and buying power to organise their source of energy independent of the grid with savings sufficient to justify their investment!

Great to see it happening as presumably it will be aligned with storage as well so perhaps assisting in bringing the cost of batteries down to affordable levels eventually.

Looking further ahead if all large scale industries adopt this approach would the grid then be left with only the minnows to finance it's running costs!

Lightsource BP has confirmed that it has clinched a deal with Budweiser brewer AB InBev to develop and operate PPA-backed, subsidy-free solar farms.
And with the agreement totalling 100MW in generating capacity, the deal is understood to be the largest unsubsidised solar deal in UK history.

Under the deal with AB InBev, Lightsource BP is to develop 100MW under 15-year power purchase agreements. The capacity is to be connected by the end of 2020, powering the brewer’s two main breweries in Magor, South Wales and Samlesbury, Lancashire.

https://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/news/lightsource_bp_confirms_uks_biggest_ever_subsidy_free_solar_deal_with_budwe

Quick update on Perovskite/Silicon.

As you may be aware, Perovskite is the upcoming star of the PV world, as it's dirt cheap, and can even be printed on plastic film using 'special' inks.

It's closing in on Silicon efficiencies, and has done this in a shockingly short length of time, but is still a little 'fragile'.

But the good news/better news is that combined Silicon and Perovskite PV is still advancing. This won't be dirt cheap but also won't be expensive like say the high efficiency PV panels of the past.

So at roughly the same cost as normal PV per Wp, Silicon/Perovskite will be able to squeeze a hell of a lot more Wp into the same space, possibly into the high 30%'s, certainly the low 30%'s.

So on a roof where folk at the start of this decade popped about 4kWp of PV at 14% efficiency, you could fit (as an example) 10kWp at 35%.

This opens up small rooves, shaded rooves, even north facing rooves(?) It also means a PV farm could double its output but some costs, such as land, ground mounts and labour wouldn't change - the panels represent about 50% of the cost, so whilst that will double (twice the kWp stuffed into the same area), most other costs wouldn't.

For domestic installs, the PV panels represent about 30% of the cost, so imagine if you doubled the kWp by installing these panels, but the cost of the system only increased by 30%, so let's say 4kWp for £5k, or 8kWp for £6.5k.

How about every house/flat having a two panel sunshade, 1kWp and around 1,000kWh's pa, and mostly consumed on site being a small system?

So why the waffle, well a company that I've mentioned before, and keeps making the news in this are, is now (already) up to 28% efficiency. And just to repeat, this isn't through making very expensive high efficiency PV, it's through combining cheap(ish) Silicon PV, with very cheap Perovskite PV.

Tandem cells at 28%

Oxford PV today announced that it has achieved 28% conversion efficiency for its perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells, improving on the company’s own previous record of 27.3% The new world record efficiency is certified by the United States National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

The record, which surpasses the current world record for a single junction silicon cell, was achieved on a laboratory scale device measuring 1cm². Oxford PV also held the previous world record for perovskite/silicon tandem cell, which it set at 27.3% back in June.

“Today’s record demonstrates the unprecedented pace of our technology development,” says Oxford PV’s Chief Technology Officer Chris Case. “We are continuing to push our perovskite-silicon solar cell technology, with a roadmap that extends beyond 30% efficiency.”

Swift Solar, A U.S startup designing and manufacturing perovskite solar panels, has announced raising $4.6 million as part of a $6.6 million investment round.

The team at Swift Solar in Colorado includes leading solar technologists from Stanford, MIT, Cambridge (UK), Oxford (UK), and the University of Washington, with expertise in perovskite photovoltaic technology and scale-up. Swift’s core technologies range from new solar cell architectures to specialized manufacturing techniques initially developed in the labs at Stanford and MIT.

Source:
eenewspower

https://www.perovskite-info.com/perovskite-solar-cell-developer-swift-solar-raises-46-million

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Some progress on post FiT's export payments.
Solar panel users to be paid for excess power – but will need to wait
My main concern was that no companies would offer a competitive (5p(ish)) rate, but fingers crossed someone will. I think I'll assume some of the RE only suppliers will look to this.

Yes indeed, there is little comfort when reading further into the announcement:-

"Government intends to leave these prices down to the suppliers themselves, however all tariffs must be greater than zero and suppliers will not be eligible to recover costs by charging consumers at times of negative pricing."

As a small supplier what negotiating power would any of us have if being offered a mere fraction of a penny per kWh. Probably even less than the UK has of negotiating a "better" deal than currently on offer from the combined strength of the 27 other European countries over Brexit!:eek: