Tag: Solar panels

Solar panels go into service near North Pole

By Viken KANTARCI Norway has installed solar panels in its Svalbard archipelago, a region plunged in round-the-clock darkness all winter, in a pilot project that could help remote Arctic communities transition to green energy. Neatly lined up in six rows in a field, 360 solar panels will on Thursday begin providing electricity to an old shipping radio station, Isfjord Radio, now converted into a base camp for tourists. The windswept archipelago — also known as […]

Thailand makes green push with floating hydro-solar power project

by Pathom SANGWONGWANICH Agence France-Presse UBON RATCHATHANI, Thailand (AFP) – A vast array of solar panels floats on the shimmering waters of a reservoir in northeast Thailand, symbolising the kingdom’s drive towards clean energy as it seeks carbon neutrality by 2050. The immense installation, covering 720,000 square metres of water surface, is a hybrid system that converts sunlight to electricity by day and generates hydropower at night. Touted by the authorities as the “world’s largest […]

Human cost of China’s green energy rush ahead of Winter Olympics

by Poornima WEERASEKARA Agence France-Presse BAODING, China (AFP) – Beaten, forced off their land, cheated out of money, and even falsely imprisoned — farmers in China say they are paying a heavy price as authorities rush to deliver on ambitious pledges to ramp up national green energy output. China has vowed the upcoming Winter Olympics 2022 will be the first Games to be run entirely on wind and solar energy, and have built scores of […]

Iraq, UAE sign deal on 5 solar electricity plants

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) – Power-short Iraq inked an agreement on Wednesday for the UAE to build five solar electricity plants with a total capacity of 1,000 megawatts (MW). Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi presided over the signing in Baghdad with renewable energy company Masdar, which is based in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates capital. Iraq is rich in oil but its dilapidated grid battles daily blackouts. Iraqi authorities aim to sign several similar accords by 2023 […]

India’s Modi lays foundations for renewable energy megapark

AHMEDABAD, India (AFP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundations Tuesday for what he said would be the world’s largest renewable energy park, set to produce a massive 30 gigawatts of electricity. The vast project in the Kutch region of western Gujarat state spread over an area of 72,600 hectares (180,000 acres) — the size of Singapore — will contain solar panels, solar energy storage units and windmills. “The hybrid renewable energy park […]

Solar panels shine in darkest Amazon, the ‘last frontier’

by Paula Ramon Agence France-Presse ITUXI Extractive Reserve, Brazil (AFP) — In the darkest reaches of Brazil’s Amazon, solar panels are bringing light — and could help save the rainforest. Aurelio Souza is working to install solar panels in villages along the remote Purus and Ituxi rivers in the western Amazonas state. “The Amazon is the last big frontier for electricity in the country,” says the consultant for a joint program of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) […]

Record-breaking solar panels could slash power costs

LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND (Reuters) — Solar panels designed by a start-up offshoot of Switzerland’s EPFL institute have achieved the highest efficiency ever recorded, in independent tests. In tests conducted by the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany, Insolight’s panels scored a yield of 36.4 percent, almost double what current solutions on the market achieve. “Our key innovation is that you do not need to rotate the panel in order to follow the sun,” explained Insolight co-founder and chief […]

Solar panels for public schools

Senator Sonny Angara proposed the installation of solar panels for every public schools that still lacks electrical supply. Said proposed law will oblige the Department of Education and Department of Energy to install solar panels that will provide much needed electricity for the use of equipment like computers that will help students in their lessons.