Presented by Energy Matters team member Virginia, we take a look at some of the stories from Australia and around the world recently added to our renewable energy news section.
In this episode, Virginia reports on the final round of solar schools grant applications opening soon, solar reaching parity with fossil fuels in MENA nations, solar panel recycling to be a multi-billion dollar industry and two new solar farms that will continue producing electricity after dark.
In this episode:
– The latest and final round of funding through the Australian Government’s National Solar Schools Program will be opening soon. The Program assists primary and secondary schools to install solar power systems and other energy efficiency measures. Read more.
– According to a report from the Emirates Solar Industry Association, solar PV is now competitive with fossil fuel in many Middle East/North Africa countries and the removal of fossil fuel subsidies, or extension of those subsidies to solar power, would level the playing field, says the Association. Read more.
– A new report predicts the total annual recycled product value of crystalline silicon solar panels will hit 12 billion US dollars in 2035. Various schemes are already evolving for PV recycling and over 200 solar manufacturers are now members of PV Cycle, including REC, Suntech and Hanwa SolarOne. Read more.
– Two 50MW parabolic trough based solar farms with thermal storage have commenced operations in Spain. Thermal storage in the form of molten salt will allow the farms to continue to generate electricity for up to 7.5 hours at full capacity in the absence of sunshine. Each solar farm will produce 160 gigawatt hours of electricity annually, enough to supply the needs of 40,000 homes. Read more.
