Germany’s shutdown of nuclear power plants in April did not result in a ramp-up of lignite-fired power plants, despite concerns. Instead, there has been a significant increase in the share of renewables in the electricity mix, and the proportion of coal-generated electricity has fallen by more than 20%.

Jörg Ebel, the president of German solar association BSW, spoke with pv magazine at Intersolar 2023 about the ongoing German solar renaissance, as the market has steadily recovered since its collapse in 2012. He sees growth across all segments, with untapped “opportunities” in the C&I market. However, he noted that Brussels needs to build trust, set a unified EU industry policy to support factory investments, and create the conditions for Germany to revitalize its upstream PV business.

The European Union’s new renewable energy directive says that around 100 GW of wind power and PV should be built on the continent every year.

A new solar company has entered the PV market, pv magazine learned this week at SNEC in Shanghai. The company sells everything from PV modules and inverters to racking and wallboxes.

Surface limitations facing the expansion of photovoltaics in Germany have led to a bold vision: installing PV arrays along motorways and creating a vast DC smart grid in the process. The plan could even be implemented across Europe.

The European Commission’s long-awaited reform of the European Union’s electricity market proposes to keep the merit order mechanism, but going forward the European energy market will be more strongly characterized by long-term PPAs and bilateral contracts for differences.

Solar industries bodies including SolarPower Europe, Germany’s BSW and Ukraine’s ASEU have joined forces to send a stream of modules, inverters and batteries to embattled Ukraine. The donations are critical as some hospitals have been without power for weeks, leaving surgeons to operate under headlamps.

For a long while, it looked as if hydrogen fuel cells would be the technology of choice for emissions-free road transport. However, truck manufacturers and freight forwarders recently turned their attention to battery-electric vehicles. This will require special charging technology and PV looks set to play an important role.

A set of amendments to Germany’s law that offer a rebate program for sustainable heating has come into effect on January 1st. The new rules grant rebates of up to 40% to help homeowners to buy and install heat pumps.

A German court has issued a preliminary injunction ordering Trina Solar to stop selling its Honey and Vertex X solar modules in Germany, as they allegedly infringe upon the patented passivation technologies of Hanwha Q Cells.