RECPDCL Invites Bids for 223 MW ISTS-Connected Solar Projects

Clean Energy Tech Firm Ecozen Raises $30 Million for Global Expansion

SJVN Green Energy Invites Bids to Source Land for 200 MW Solar Projects in Assam

Avaada Inks ₹45 Billion Refinancing Deal for Four Solar Projects in Rajasthan

Daily News Wrap-Up: Application Process for ALMM Inclusion and Renewal

Australia Adds 5.9 GW of Renewable Capacity to the Grid in 2023

POWERGRID Wins Contracts to Evacuate 18 GW of Renewable Energy

MNRE Seeks Feedback on Guidelines for PM-Surya Ghar Rooftop Solar Program

Apple Partners with CleanMax to Power India Operations with Renewable Energy

Explainer: Application Process for ALMM Inclusion and Renewal


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					</table><p><a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/ntpc-win-seci-solar-tranche-xvi-auction" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Avaada Energy</strong><strong>, ReNew Solar Power (</strong><strong>ReNew</strong><strong>), Solairedirect Energy India (</strong><strong>ENGIE</strong><strong>), </strong><strong>SAEL Industries</strong><strong>, and </strong><strong>NTPC Renewable Energy</strong><strong> were declared winners</strong></a> in the Solar Energy Corporation of India’s auction to set up 1,500 MW Inter-State Transmission System-connected solar power projects in India under Tranche XIV. Avaada, ReNew, ENGIE, and SAEL quoted the lowest tariff of ₹2.57 (~$0.0310)/kWh to win 300 MW, 300 MW, 100 MW, and 600 MW, respectively.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/guvnl-battery-energy-storage-systems" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam has invited bids to set up pilot projects of 250 MW/500 MWh standalone battery energy storage systems in Gujarat</strong></a> under tariff-based global competitive bidding (Phase III). The last day to submit the bids is April 22, 2024. Bids will be opened on May 1. The project must be completed within 18 months. The minimum bid size must be 140 MWh (70 MWh x 2 hours).</p>
<p><a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/housing-societies-new-rooftop-solar-program" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (</strong><strong>MNRE</strong><strong>) has announced that the President of India has approved the PM-Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana</strong></a>, with a budget of ₹750.21 billion (~$9 billion). The ministry also issued a breakdown of central financial assistance for residential houses, group housing societies, and residential welfare associations. The PM Surya Ghar initiative aims to install rooftop solar projects in ten million poor and middle-class households.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/mnre-electrolyzer-manufacturing-sight-ii-program" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>MNRE</strong><strong> has set aside ₹44.4 billion (~$535.6 million) to incentivize manufacturing of electrolyzers to reduce costs for hydrogen production in the country</strong></a>, as part of the National Green Hydrogen Mission. The program aims to make domestically made electrolyzers – a key component for green hydrogen production, internationally competitive in performance and quality and to build out its supply chains. It also intends to support both established and new electrolyzer technologies.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/delhi-metro-issues-tender-rooftop-solar-projects" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has invited bids for 3.5 MW rooftop solar projects on its under-construction Phase-IV network stations under the</strong></a> Renewable Energy Supply Company model, as the metro service provider looks to power its operations using solar energy. The last date to submit bids is April 25, 2024. Bids will be opened the next day. The project’s estimated cost is ₹136.8 million (~$1.68 million).</p>
<p><a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/seci-solar-projects-storage" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Solar Energy Corporation of India (</strong><strong>SECI</strong><strong>) has issued a request for selection from project developers to set up 1,200 MW ISTS-connected solar power projects</strong></a> with 600 MW/1,200 MWh energy storage systems anywhere in India under Tranche XV. SECI will enter into a power purchase agreement with the successful bidders to purchase solar power for 25 years. The selected bidder must set up the projects on a Build Own Operate basis and commission them within 24 months of the effective PPA signing date.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/cesl-tender-ev-charging-stations-noida" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Convergence Energy Services Limited has invited bids for selecting a managed service partner for the operations, management, maintenance, and security</strong></a> of 31 public service electric vehicle (EV) charging stations across Noida. Bidders will be responsible for seamlessly managing the Energy Efficiency Services Limited  public EV charging stations. The bidder will be solely responsible for the security and maintenance of the public charging stations in Noida.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/mumbai-metro-rooftop-solar-projects" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation has invited bids to install 2.8 MW of rooftop solar systems and associated support structure works on Aarey station</strong></a> and depot buildings of the Mumbai Metro Line 3 project. The scope of work includes site survey, investigation, design, engineering, supply, installation, testing, and commissioning of rooftop solar systems within twelve months. RESCO model will be used for the projects.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/seci-invites-bids-manufacturing-under-sight-ii-program" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>SECI</strong><strong> has issued a request for the selection of electrolyzer manufacturers for setting up 1.5 GW of electrolyzer manufacturing capacities in India</strong></a> under strategic interventions for the green hydrogen transition (SIGHT) program (Tranche- II). The last date for the submission of bids is April 30, 2024. Bids will be opened on May 3. The total capacity is segmented into distinct buckets.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/mahagenco-epc-tender-569-mw-solar" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>The Maharashtra State Power Generation Company has invited bids for the design, engineering, supply (except module), module unloading, erection, testing</strong></a>, and commissioning of 569 MW of grid-connected solar power projects. The projects will be set up under the second phase of Mukhyamantri Saur Krushi Vahini Yojana to solarize agriculture feeders in various districts of Maharashtra. The last day to submit the bids is May 5, 2024. Bids will be opened on May 10.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/sunergy-lists-on-nasdaq-spac-deal" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Florida-based </strong><strong>Sunergy Renewables</strong><strong>, a residential solar and storage firm, announced it will begin trading on the </strong><strong>Nasdaq</strong><strong> Stock Exchange after merging</strong></a> with ESGEN Acquisition Corp, a special purpose acquisition company. The merged company, now called Zeo Energy Corp, will trade its shares and warrants under the ticker “ZEO” and “ZEOWW” and will be led by Sunergy’s senior management.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/researchers-use-to-harvest-solar-energy" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Researchers at Pennsylvania State University have developed a dual cooling and power generation strategy that simultaneously harvests solar energy</strong></a> in a solar cell and directs heat away from the Earth through radiative cooling. As conventional energy generation methods come with increased environmental costs, the researchers took to turning two underutilized renewable resources, the sun and outer space, into solutions to generate electricity and passively cool down structures.</p>
<div class="saboxplugin-wrap" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope itemprop="author"><div class="saboxplugin-tab"><div class="saboxplugin-gravatar"></div><div class="saboxplugin-authorname"><a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/author/mercom-staff/" class="vcard author" rel="author"><span class="fn">Mercom Staff</span></a></div><div class="saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop="description"></div></div><div class="clearfix"></div></div></div>

Daily News Wrap-Up: Avaada, ReNew, ENGIE, NTPC Win SECI’s 1.5 GW Solar Auction


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					</table><p>A team of researchers led by <a href="https://www.psu.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Penn State University</a> has created a new process to fabricate large perovskite devices that are more cost and time effective and holds the potential to accelerate future materials discovery.</p>
<p>EM-FAST, also known as spark plasma sintering, involves applying electric current and pressure to powders to create new materials. The process has a 100% yield wherein all the raw ingredients go into the final device, as opposed to 20 to 30% in solution-based processing.</p>
<p>The technique produced perovskite materials at .2 inches per minute, allowing scientists to quickly create large devices that maintained high performance in laboratory tests.</p>
<p>The team reported their findings in the journal <em>Nature Communications</em>.</p>
<p>“This method we developed allows us to easily create very large bulk samples within several minutes, rather than days or weeks using traditional methods,” said Luyao Zheng, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Materials Science at Penn State and lead author on the study.</p>
<p><strong>The EM-FAST Technique</strong></p>
<p>The researchers used a sintering method called the electrical and mechanical field-assisted sintering technique (EM-FAST) to create the devices.</p>
<p>Sintering is a commonly used process to compress fine powders into a solid mass of material using heat and pressure.</p>
<p>While these materials have excellent properties, the approach is expensive and inefficient for creating large perovskites and the solvents used may be toxic, the researchers said.</p>
<p>“Our technique is the best of both worlds…we get single-crystal-like properties, and we don’t have to worry about size limitations or any contamination or yield of toxic materials,” said Bed Poudel, a research professor at Penn State and a co-author.</p>
<p>Because it uses dry materials, the EM-FAST technique opens the door to include new dopants, ingredients added to tailor device properties, that are not compatible with the wet chemistry used to make thin films which in turn can potentially accelerate the discovery of new materials.</p>
<p>This opens up possibilities to design and develop new classes of materials, including better thermoelectric and solar materials, as well as X- and γ-ray detectors, the researchers said.</p>
<p>The new process also allows for layered materials — one powder underneath another — to create designer compositions. In the future, manufacturers could design specific devices and then directly print them from dry powders.</p>
<p>While the university scientists have long used EM-FAST to create thermoelectric devices, this work represents the first attempt to create perovskite materials with the technique.</p>
<p>Recently, an international team of researchers <a href="https://mercomindia.com/researchers-improves-with-new-material-layer/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">developed</a> a new technique to enhance the durability of inverted perovskite solar cells, which can be an essential step toward commercializing emerging photovoltaic technology and significantly reducing the cost.</p>
<p>In January, researchers at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin said that they had <a href="https://mercomindia.com/perovskite-cells-retain-efficiency-during-fluctuations/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">produced</a> perovskite solar cells to achieve efficiencies of well above 24%, which are resistant to drop under rapid temperature fluctuations between -60 and +80 degrees Celsius over one hundred cycles.</p>
<div class="saboxplugin-wrap" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope itemprop="author"><div class="saboxplugin-tab"><div class="saboxplugin-gravatar"></div><div class="saboxplugin-authorname"><a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/author/gautamee-hazarika/" class="vcard author" rel="author"><span class="fn">Gautamee Hazarika</span></a></div><div class="saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop="description"><div class="designboxt">
<p><img class="alignleft" style="border-radius: 50%;height: 50px;margin-top: -4px;border: 1px solid #00b451" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Picture1.jpg" width="50" /></p>
<p><strong style="text-decoration: underline">Gautamee,</strong> Staff reporter at Mercom India<br />
<a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/gautamee-hazarika/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More articles from Gautamee.</a><br />
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<a href="gautamee@mercomindia.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gautamee@mercomindia.com</a></p>
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<div class="authorboxn"><img class="alignleft" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Picture1.jpg" width="102" height="102" /><a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/gautamee-hazarika/" rel="noopener">Gautamee</a> is a reporter at Mercom India. Prior to Mercom, Gautamee was working as a multimedia news journalist at ThePrint in New Delhi. She has received her Bachelors in English Honors and Masters in English Literature from St.Stephen&#8217;s College, University of Delhi.<a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/gautamee-hazarika/" rel="noopener">More articles from Gautamee</a></div>
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Researchers Find New Method to Create Next-Generation Solar Cells


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					</table><p>A team of scientists from Pennsylvania State University (<a href="https://www.psu.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Penn State</a>) has found that nanoparticles boost the efficiency of solar cells not because of the up-conversion but due to enhanced light scattering.</p>
<p>The scientists said that this light scattering process boosted efficiency in the solar devices they created. Scientists have proposed that tapping into this could push solar cell efficiency past its theoretical ceiling, the Shockley-Queisser (SQ) limit, which is around 30% for single-junction solar cells powered by sunlight.</p>
<p>The usual method involves adding up-conversion nanoparticles to the materials used in the solar devices. Up-conversion materials allow solar cells to harvest energy from a wider spectrum of light than normally possible. Adding nanoparticles is like adding millions of small mirrors inside a solar cell. The light traveling through the device hits the nanoparticles and scatters, potentially hitting other nanoparticles, reflecting many times within the device, and providing a noticeable photocurrent enhancement.</p>
<p>“We were focused initially on up-converting infrared light to the visible spectrum for absorption and energy conversion by perovskite, but the data from our PennState colleagues indicated this was not a significant process. Subsequently, we provided undoped nanocrystals that do not give optical up-conversion, and they were just as effective in enhancing the energy conversion efficiency,” said Jim Piper, co-author and emeritus professor at Macquarie University, Australia.</p>
<p>Adding the nanoparticles boosted the efficiency of perovskite solar cells by 1% in the study, the scientists reported in the journal ACS Energy Letters. Changing the shape, size, and distribution of nanoparticles within these devices could further lead to even more photocurrent enhancement and higher efficiencies.</p>
<p>“It could be the future research direction based on ideas from this research,” said Shashank Priya, associate vice president for research and professor of materials science and engineering at Penn State.</p>
<p>Last month, researchers from Swansea university and Tata Steel, UK, <a href="https://mercomindia.com/new-research-shows-perovskite-solar-panels/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> that perovskite solar cells could be printed on steel atop buildings.</p>
<p>Earlier, Fraunhofer researchers claimed to have <a href="https://mercomindia.com/fraunhofer-researchers-claim-record-efficiency-four-junction-solar-cell/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">achieved</a> a record efficiency of 47.6% for a four-junction solar cell.</p>
<div class="saboxplugin-wrap" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope itemprop="author"><div class="saboxplugin-tab"><div class="saboxplugin-gravatar"></div><div class="saboxplugin-authorname"><a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/author/vijayalakshmi-sridhar/" class="vcard author" rel="author"><span class="fn">Vijayalakshmi Sridhar</span></a></div><div class="saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop="description"><p><img class="alignleft" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/New-Project-6.jpg" width="77" height="102" /> <a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/vijayalakshmi-sridhar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vijayalakshmi</a> is a staff reporter at MercomIndia.com. She has two decades of experience as an independent journalist and features writer, and her work is featured across various publications and genres such as business, food, and clean energy. <a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/vijayalakshmi-sridhar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More articles from Vijayalakshmi</a>.</p>
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Nanoparticles Increase Light Scattering, Boost Solar Cell Performance: Research

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