Gujarat tenders 685 MW grid-connected solar capacity
Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd has invited global bids to set up 500 MW of grid-connected solar projects. It shall enter into a 25-year PPA with successful bidders. Tariff ceiling is set as Rs 2.65/unit. Another tender for 185 MW—floated by Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Limited—seeks to select EPC contractors for plants ranging from 20 MW to 40 MW, which shall come up at various substations of Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation Limited.
MIT researchers say PV innovations should be deployed in niche markets first
Solar module manufacturers should begin testing new technologies in higher-value niche markets, say scientists at the U.S. institution. For example, bringing perovskite technology directly to the mainstream market remains prohibitive in terms of initial investment but segments such as building-integrated PV or microelectronics devices may offer better routes to commercial maturity.
GE T&D India to augment solar power evacuation in Rajasthan
The company has won an order from Power Grid Corporation of India Limited to install 765 KV gas-insulated substation bays at Phagi in Jaipur district. With this installation, the state will be able to evacuate around 1 GW of additional renewable energy from three solar parks at Bhadla, Fatehpur and Bikaner to various beneficiaries.
UK designers launch freestanding curved panel
Product development company the Cambridge Design Partnership, working with compatriot solar business Solivus, has developed a curved solar module featuring an organic thin film. The design is based on Solivus’ desire to “create a product so attractive that people would be happy to have one in their garden”.
SECI invites global bids for 14 MW solar with 42 MWh battery storage in Ladakh
The project will be awarded to the bidder who quotes the lowest viability gap funding requirement. The upper limit for VGF to be quoted by a bidder is kept at Rs 130 million for 1 MW solar PV project with battery storage of 3 MWh.
Chennai Metro tenders for renewable power purchase from group captive projects
The Chennai Metro Rail Limited seeks to procure 90 million units/annum of solar or solar-wind hybrid power, or 72 million units/annum of wind power through tariff based competitive bidding. Tariff ceiling is fixed at Rs 3.50/KWh for 25 years. Bidding closes on February 13.
Indian researchers develop a mathematical method to choose the best PV technology in hot, dry areas
The proposed model is said to perform better at energy prediction than software tools such as PVWatts, PVSyst or RetScreen. The approach was validated on two 5 MW PV plants in the same district of the Indian state of Rajasthan.
Raising the efficiency of polycrystalline cells with new luminescent EVA film
Chinese researchers have developed a pure EVA film, which they claim can enhance the conversion efficiency of conventional crystalline solar cells by around 0.50%. The film is able to convert UV light into strong visible light.
A new technique to get the right angular-tilt
US scientists are proposing a new approach to calculating the optimum angular-tilt of PV panels for a planar surface at a particular site. In their view, the new technique may unlock innovative yield optimization methods for the installation of PV systems.
Togo selects NTPC as PMC for 300 MW solar project
With this, the West African nation becomes the first International Solar Alliance (ISA) member to avail services of NTPC. Presently, there are six programmes of the ISA to develop solar capacities in member countries, which include agricultural pumps, mini grids, rooftop solar, large-scale grid connected projects, etc.
