European Commission opens antitrust probe into Greek state-owned utility
The EU executive will investigate whether power company PPC abused its dominant position in the member state’s wholesale electricity market to squeeze out competitors.
Solargiga board expects annual loss
The directors said the company’s shuttering of solar cell manufacturing–prompted by aging production equipment and a lack of scale–were unexpected.
Holographic film to protect solar panels from overheating
Russian scientists have developed a holographic film based on prismatic concentrators that reduces the operating temperature of solar panels, including thermal-photovoltaic devices. They claim the patented, low-cost technique can even improve PV module efficiency in cloudy weather.
Household solar holds key to climate-neutral Japan
Rooftops will have to supply a third of the 524 GW of solar generation capacity needed by 2045 to reach a zero-carbon economy by mid century, according to an academic paper. The researchers also suggested green hydrogen should not play a central role in the nation’s energy transition.
Canadian start-up wants to build gigafactory for vanadium flow batteries in China
The factory will be built by VRB Energy in the Hubei province, where it also wants to deploy a 100 MW solar park linked to a 100 MW/500 MWh vanadium flow battery.
Organic PV module with 12.36% efficiency
Chinese researchers have taken a quaternary approach to fabricate a module with an area of 19.34 cm2, a geometrical filling factor of 95.5%, and an efficiency of 12.36%.
Wacker reports slight revenue growth for polysilicon business
The German polysilicon manufacturer reported higher sales volumes and a better product mix for its polysilicon segment.
Overlooked supply chain enters Australia’s green hydrogen export mix
As the vision of Australia becoming a leading hydrogen exporter sharpens, questions about the best form in which to send our offering into the world arise. Just in the last fortnight, a Western Australia company has come out with a strong case for a new, largely overlooked form: compressed hydrogen. The ‘curve-ball’ has piqued the interest of many. “I think they’re really doing some very exciting work,” Scott Hamilton, from the Smart Energy Council, told pv magazine Australia.
Canadian Solar acquires German off-grid specialist
Berlin-based start-up Solarworx specializes in the supply of modular, off-grid, solar-plus-storage solutions.
Volkswagen, Iberdrola, Enel, BP to install EV recharging stations, battery plants in Europe
German car manufacturer Volkswagen plans to create a gigantic network of charging points for electric cars in Europe with Enel and BP. They aim to set up six gigafactories for EV batteries across Europe by the end of this decade, with a total production capacity of 240 GWh.
