Ukraine

European researchers have evaluated the electricity generation, levelized cost of electricity (LCOE), and payback period of vehicle-integrated PV in EVs.

New small-capacity solar power plants are being developed in Ukraine to avoid blackouts, which is helping businesses to stay afloat amid dire economic conditions.

Also on the rise: Jigar Shah begins a series on the challenges that come with achieving a zero-carbon electric grid and the role of virtual power plants. The US Navy aims for 100% carbon-free electricity by 2030. Solar Decathlon opens programs for high school students and professionals.

About $400,000 worth of off-grid power equipment and accessories were donated to support lights, communications, other key electrical services for Ukrainians suffering a Russian invasion.

Indra Overland, the head of the Center for Energy Research at the Norwegian Institute for International Affairs, tells pv magazine how the Ukraine war is irreversibly changing the global energy landscape, making massive renewables deployment a certainty. But labor issues, equipment shortages, and reliance on Chinese manufacturing remain obstacles.

Also on the rise: Invasion of Ukraine an inadvertent boost for green hydrogen. 175MW Pike Solar and Storage Project cleared for construction in Colorado. Joint development agreement for light-optimizing, energy-producing modules designed to top agrivoltaic greenhouses. Barrio Solar wants to help Brooklyn homeowners go solar. While interconnection seen as a bottleneck to solar, three grid regions processed 25GW of solar interconnection requests last year. The 400MW Obsidian Solar Center in Oregon gets final approval. Research on semi-transparent organic photovoltaic filters for agrivoltaic greenhouses.

Rystad Energy and BloombergNEF indicate that the impact of the war has sent prices of fossil fuel-tied forms of hydrogen production surging, leaving the gradual but consistent downward price trend of green hydrogen now looking remarkably competitive.

Also in the brief: Jacked-up vendor curves, and Major League Soccer goes solar.

IEA PVPS report: Global solar demand increased by 12% in 2019 compared to 2018 — but that was BC. According to the report, photovoltaics provided just under 3% of global electricity needs in 2019.