Ce n’est un secret pour personne : les prix dans l’ensemble de la chaîne d’approvisionnement solaire ont atteint des niveaux historiquement bas au cours des 18 derniers mois. Alex Barrows et Molly Morgan du cabinet CRU Group analysent comment le marché en est arrivé à un tel déséquilibre, les conséquences sur l’innovation, et les effets potentiels sur les transitions technologiques à venir.| pv magazine France
Developed by Italian dry bottom ash handling system provider Magaldi Power, the system produces green thermal energy -- steam or hot air -- which can be used directly in industrial plants or for the generation of electricity using steam turbines. The system consists of a blower, a fluidization air blowing system, a fluidization air suction system, an air filter and fan, an air pre-heater, and an integrated thermal energy storage module. Silica sands are the system's storage media.| pv magazine International
NREL researchers developed a system that uses heated silica particles for thermal energy storage. The baseline technology is designed for a storage capacity of up to 26,000 MWh and is claimed to have a cost of of between $2 and $4 per kWh.| pv magazine International
UK workplace pension provider Smart Pension has announced an initial GBP 330 million ($440 million) strategic investment in Octopus Energy Generation. The renewables arm of Octopus Energy invests in solar, wind and energy storage projects, as well as clean energy technologies such as heat pumps.| pv magazine International
Finnish startup Polar Night Energy is teaming up with a district heating company to construct an industrial-scale thermal energy storage system in southern Finland. The sand-based system will use soapstone, a byproduct from a fireplace manufacturer, as its storage medium.| pv magazine International
The system will provide district heating to the city of Kankaanpää in western Finland. It has 100 kW of heating power and 8 MWh of energy capacity.| pv magazine International
Polar Night Energy will build a second pilot plant in southern Finland to test its power-to-heat-to-power sand battery technology. The project aims to demonstrate the system’s ability to reconvert stored heat into electricity.| pv magazine International
Researchers have found seven perceived patterns of corruption tied to the utility-scale solar boom in southern California from 2010 to 2024.| pv magazine International
