The promise of hydrogen as the energy source of the future has long been deliberated by manufacturers, climate professionals, and political figures. These discussions have intensified following the European Commission’s economic recovery package, which features a focus on kick-starting a clean hydrogen economy in Europe. Nikolaos Tsiouvaras, R&D director at Systems Sunlight S.A., a Greek manufacturer of industrial and advanced technology batteries for the energy storage industry, explores storage in Europe.

A new wave of consolidation and some reshuffling is underway among market leaders in the solar EPC space, writes IHS Markit’s Josefin Berg. In 2019, the 30 largest EPC providers globally installed 28 GW of non-residential PV, representing 26% of the total market. This increase from 21% in 2018 stems mainly from a growing concentration in the Chinese PV market, as well as integrator concentration in rapidly growing markets like Spain and Vietnam.

Rajendra Khandalkar, group head of supply chain management at India-based infrastructure engineering, procurement and construction services company Sterling and Wilson, has spoken to pv magazine India about learning from the Covid-19 crisis and the importance of smart supplier management to bolster company resilience.

Clean energy is critical to solving our climate crisis. But we need to consider the full environmental and human health impacts of solar energy generation across its entire lifecycle, including mining, manufacturing, use, decommissioning and recycling. This requires us to identify critical stages in the production process, and how choices in materials and chemicals at different stages of production influence each other.

Both the current status, and the future of, solar PPAs in the Turkish market as a key tool for increasing PV capacity has become a widely discussed topic. This is particularly due to the fact that after mid-2021, the future of YEKDEM (Turkey’s local FIT regime) is uncertain. The incentives could be lower than expected, or even unavailable for some technologies. This has raised the question of alternative financing mechanisms with respect to new investments.

Covid-19 rescue measures such as delaying electricity bill payments pile added pressure onto energy companies already hit by pandemic-related falls in demand in a continent which a new study suggests is too dependent on donor aid for the development of renewables.

Analysts at Mercom Capital Group have tallied up corporate funding, venture capital and debt and public market investment for battery storage, smart grids and energy efficiency companies. From a financial perspective, the industry appears resilient to the Covid-19 crisis and ready to grow further.

Clean energy electricity generation surpassed that from nuclear and fossil fuels for the sixth successive quarter in the July-to-September window, according to data analyst Enappsys, but Europe saw a fall in solar output and demand patterns at the end of the window may presage a second wave of Covid-19.

The latest edition of the Global Off-grid Solar Market Report by the World Bank and GOGLA has called for regulatory and financial support to help off-grid distributors create jobs lost to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The proportion of clean energy consumed in the EU continues to rise but the European Commission’s State of the Energy Union report is critical of failings in energy efficiency, low-carbon-R&D spending, and the removal of fossil fuel subsidies.

According to the Hungarian authorities, 253 of the procurement exercise’s 255 pre-selected projects are for photovoltaic plants. Around 390 GWh will be contracted in an auction that has been significantly oversubscribed.

The city’s executive mayor has said his officials are working with staff at the national Treasury to draw up a program for municipalities across the nation to turn to independent generators for electricity.

Solar manufacturers Longi and Tongwei have frozen next month’s prices.

UK Power Networks’ ‘Power Potential’ project offers small scale generators the chance to be rewarded for voltage-balancing reactive-power services alongside traditional power stations.

Industrial and academic partners are developing a battery inverter which can be grid connected under normal operation but can also use nearby renewables generators to form an island grid, for whole-area uninterrupted power supply.

The solar-plus-storage facility will be linked to the mine’s existing thermal power plant and is expected to reduce the cost of the kilowatts currently consumed by its operations by $0.04. The project developer is British oil provider Vivo Energy.

Qi-energy and Candock have developed a raft-based system for utility-scale floating PV plants, based on special high-density polyethylene “dock cubes” supporting a nonmetallic frame.

BOC will compress green hydrogen produced at HyP SA, which taps South Australian solar generation.

The HiKu7 CS 7N-MS series is available with power output ranging from 640-665 W and efficiency ranging from 20.6-21.4%. The panel, which is the most powerful product the company brought to the market to date, is considered ideal for utility-scale and commercial and industrial PV projects.

The Italian energy company has developed four big solar plants in the last 21 months to add 794 MW of generation capacity to its 3.67 GW solar portfolio and is emblematic of companies from the wider energy sector focusing on the renewable technology.

Scientists in the Netherlands fabricated three different perovskite layers, all using the same process. The three cells are all tuned to different bandgaps in order to absorb different wavelengths of light. A triple-junction device incorporating all three achieved 16.8% conversion efficiency. This, the researchers say, is a promising result for the technology, though would require the development of new wide-bandgap perovskites to push much further.

A scientist familiar with First Solar’s earlier efforts in CIGS makes the case for the CdTe pioneer to return to the technology.

Meyer Burger has extended its seven-year tie-up with the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology by three years. They aim to achieve module-level production efficiencies of more than 24%, while also cutting costs.

An international research team has analyzed all existing cooling technologies for PV panels and has indicated the current best options and future trends of research. According to its findings, active water cooling, although expensive and not particularly practical, is the most effective cooling technique while passive cooling systems, despite being easy to apply, have still limited possibilities.

Bigger PV module designs are now hitting the market, but the production of larger, more powerful solar panels is challenging. Canadian Solar is launching its new Series 7 modules with pv magazine in a webinar on Oct. 29. Our editorial team recently caught up with Canadian Solar’s chairman and CEO, Shawn Qu, and director of module R&D, Alan Xu, to discuss the company’s latest efforts to shake up the market.

Strong net sales, 1.6 GW of bookings, plans for a 445 W panel, and environmental recognition for the Series 6 line point to another successful quarter.

China will not ease restrictions on new investments in additional PV glass production capacity, according to a newly published draft document from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

German researchers have proposed a new model, based on a range of parameters, to influence the LCOE of bifacial PV plants, with a focus on components, land costs, inclination angles, albedo, and weather conditions.

Barbara Pompili, the French minister of ecological transition, recently announced new bonus incentives for BIPV projects during a visit to a Sunstyle factory that aims to produce 1 GW of “Made in France” solar tiles by 2025.

Scientists led by the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have developed a new stress testing protocol for PV modules, one designed to simultaneously expose modules to multiple stresses, as they likely would be in the field. Putting modules through this test, the researchers have already been able to reveal new information regarding backsheet degradation, and they promise new insights into other degradation mechanisms both known and unknown as well.

Engie’s storage subsidiary has unveiled its hydrogen-based energy storage system, built with its proprietary technology, in Agkistro, Greece.

The plan envisages to reach a 30% share of renewable energies in the country’s electricity mix by 2030. An intermediate target of 20% has been set for 2025.

The energy company has invested €33 million in UK-based electrolyzer maker ITM and has started a cooperation with the Italian railway operator to test joint hydrogen solutions for transport.

The French authorities have launched two tenders for projects, in line with a new national plan to develop carbon-free hydrogen, announced Sept. 8.

The proposed 26 GW Asian Renewable Energy Hub in Western Australia gained federal government support last week. Construction is expected to start in 2026.