Residential PV

The system is claimed to be India’s largest residential on-grid residential solar installation using 540 Wp PV modules. It uses 68 numbers of JA Solar 540 Wp half-cell mono PERC modules and 27kW Fronius inverter.

India’s solar capacity growth up to 2030 also means the generation of a significant mass of PV module waste due to early failures or damages during transportation, installation, and operation. The waste generation could be 21 kilotonnes assuming India’s cumulative installed PV capacity grows to 287.4 GW by 2030 from 40 GW in 2020. This doesn’t include end-of-life panel waste as PV systems installed between 2020-30 are assumed to have at least 30 years of lifetime.

Switzerland-based Energy Pier has developed a new concept for hybrid-wind solar projects located along highways. The proposed solution combines a rooftop PV system with small scale wind generators that are installed on both sides of the supporting pillars of the system.

India will require large swaths of land for the huge expansion of renewable energy capacity over the coming decades. The energy transition requires planning for proper siting of these plants and solutions like agrivoltaics, distributed energy systems, and offshore wind to reduce land-use conflicts.

UK’s development finance institution CDC will invest $1 billion in green projects in India between 2022-26. Besides, UK has committed a new $200-million private and multilateral investment into the joint UK-India Green Growth Equity Fund that invests in Indian renewable energy.

Pyramid Electronics has unveiled three-phase string solar inverters based on silicon carbide power devices. The inverters are available in power ratings ranging from 5 kW to 15 kW, including models with three maximum power point trackers.

Despite rising module prices and lockdown restrictions, the nation maintained its quarterly solar capacity installation above the 2 GW level in the second quarter.

The comparison of two solar cladded roofs in Sydney, Australia, one bare beneath its panels and the other adorned with native grasses and plants, has found the panels on the green roof were, on average, 3.63% more efficient, producing an average daily output 13% greater than the conventional roof. The improvements are believed to stem from the lower temperatures on the green roof, thanks to its plants – which also provided a plethora of additional benefits.

A 6 MW solar plant, coupled with a 15 MWh battery energy storage system, will meet the village’s day and night electricity requirements. Moreover, 1kW rooftop solar systems have been installed on houses.  

An Indian-Malaysian research group has investigated the effectiveness of several passive cooling techniques for solar panels, including the placement of plants around the modules or coir pith underneath them, both of which, surprisingly, offered good performance in terms of temperature reduction and power yield.