Technology

Chinese PV manufacturer Hanergy Thin Film Power Group today announced it has achieved 24.23% cell efficiency using its silicon heterojunction technology. The efficiency has been confirmed by Japan’s Electrical Safety & Environment Technology Laboratories.

The irrigation department of the state of Uttarakhand has invited bids for setting up of 40.84 MW solar PV project at Haripura (27.34 MW) and Tumariya (13.50 MW) dams in district Udham Singh Nagar. The projects are to be built under build-own-operate-transfer model. The deadline for bid submission is February 15. Technical bids will be opened on February 18, while the date for opening of financial bids will intimated in due course.

The nation saw 1.3 GW of renewable energy secured for business through private PPAs in 2018, almost twice as much as the volume recorded in Australia, but the picture could change next year if China follows through with its renewable portfolio standard commitment.

Solar-wind and wind-only projects will be set up in centralized renewable energy parks along the lines of successful solar installations to keep power evacuation simple, under the terms of the state’s new land policy.

Setting up of the microgrid with battery energy storage is part of an extended R&D collaboration between ABB and the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee to create platforms for research on smart city technology deployment.

High solar irradiance and few cloudy days are ideal for solar. Fine dust and extreme heat is not – particularly when it comes to power electronics. As the distributed generation market segment emerges across hot climates, extreme conditions are a challenge inverter suppliers are grappling with.

Union Minister for Science & Technology, Dr Harsh Vardhan will launch the solar technology centre at IIT Madras on January 25, 2019. The Centre will focus on a wide range of research and development activities such as silicon solar cells that promise high efficiency and are suited for Indian conditions.

The plants at Patni and Lalgarh in West Bengal are expected to generate 1.55 million units of electricity per megawatt (MW) annually.

Government-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited and Australian business Libcoin are in talks to form a joint venture to build a 1 GWh production capacity lithium-ion battery plant in India that would eventually be scaled up to 30 GWh.

Although the solar industry sees itself as young, its assets are aging. Owners still struggle with the complexity of making the best use of big data analysis to improve plant efficiency and profitability. Ragna Schmidt-Haupt, of Everoze, examines why this has not changed, and what can or should be improved. Artificial intelligence, advanced data analytics, automated assessments and smart monitoring software – holistic solar asset management starts here.