Electrification NEWS

The solar industry has spent decades slashing the cost of generating electricity direct from the sun. Now it’s focusing on making panels even more powerful. With savings in equipment manufacturing hitting a plateau, and more recently pressured by rising prices of raw materials, producers are stepping up work on advances in technology — building better components and employing increasingly sophisticated designs to generate more electricity from the same-sized solar farms.

Stressing on the need to move towards renewable energy, Ashok Jhunjhunwala, institute professor, IIT Madras said that India has abundant solar and wind power to generate renewable energy for at least the next 25 years. Delivering the keynote address virtually at the R&D Showcase, IIIT Hyderabad, he said that the electricity cost will also reduce if solar and wind energy is used for electricity.

Norwegian oil giant, Equinor, yesterday, entered into an agreement to acquire Danish power and natural gas trading firm Danske Commodities (DC) for $468 million. The acquisition of Danske is in line with Equinor’s strategy to become a broad energy company. Equinor has vowed to spend 15-20% of its CAPEX towards finding “new energy solutions” by 2030. Shareholders and environmentalists are pressurizing oil firms to reduce their global carbon footprint.