Just a fraction of federal land could power carbon-free future
Millions of acres on federal land are suitable for renewable energy, of which less than 5% is needed to be carbon-free by 2035, found National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Boviet Solar manufacturing facility ready to ramp up in North Carolina
The company plans to manufacture both solar modules and cells in its Greenville facility, following a $294 million investment and the establishment its first North American production hub.
U.S. scientists building magnetocaloric heat pump with high system power density
Developed at the U. S. Ames National Laboratory, the novel magnetocaloric heat pump utilizes gadolinium as the working medium and reportedly matches current vapor-compression heat pumps for weight, cost, and performance. The system is based on a packed-particle bed active magnetic regenerator, a magnetic source composed of permanent magnets and high permeability magnetic steel.
After liftoff, DOE looks to accelerate virtual power plants
Virtual power plant capacity must double to meet demand, the Department of Energy said in its latest report on virtual power plants.
Organic solar cells for space demonstrate radiation resistance, self-healing
Conventional silicon solar cells degrade rapidly in space, and gallium arsenide cells are heavy and inflexible. Research from the University of Michigan suggests carbon-based solar cells could be a good fit for space applications.
The impact of wildfires on PV power generation
Scientists have studied the impact wildfires have on the availability of direct normal irradiance and global horizontal irradiance. The research found that direct irradiance is more sensitive to smoke than the PV-relevant global horizontal irradiance.
OpenADR 3.0 standard can maximize demand flexibility to help integrate renewables
Berkeley Lab’s CalFlexHub says global adoption of an improved communications method can foster a transition from event-based demand response to continuous price-based demand flexibility—increasing demand for renewable power at sunny and windy times.
U.S.-made perovskite-silicon tandem solar modules could be produced at around $0.35/W
Techno-economic analysis conducted by NREL researchers has shown how perovskite-silicon tandem solar modules could currently hardly compete in cost with incumbent PV panels. Production costs for U.S.-made tandem products were found to range between $0.29/W and $0.42/W, with module efficiencies ranging from 25% to 30%.
Sunrise brief: U.S. electricity rates rise about 5% annually, outpacing inflation
Also on the rise: Half of distribution transformers are approaching end of life. Agrivoltaic pilot program announced in New Jersey. And more.
Agrivoltaic pilot program announced in New Jersey
Agrivoltaics co-locates solar with agriculture. The incentive program will provide its results to inform the design of a permanent agrivoltaic program.
