From pv magazine 02/2022 One of the biggest differences between residential EVs is in terms of solar-optimized charging. With solar-optimized charging an energy management system adjusts the charging power so that, as far as possible, charging always takes place with the surplus rooftop solar electricity. Such systems, if there is little sunshine or household electricity […]

1Komma5° has acquired a majority stake in Swedish solar installation provider Cellsolar AB. This is the sixth acquisition of the recently founded Cleantech startup which wants to open the installation sector for the capital market in order to allow rapid growth.

The discussion about the extent to which forced labor exists in the solar value chain continues. A video, a university report, a ministerial response and a parliamentary machinations formed notable developments of the debate last week.

Something is brewing in the financial world. “Sustainable finance” and the growth of ESG funds have been taking the market by storm in recent years. Since most major PV projects end up needing investors from the capital market, it is only a matter of time before they will have to adapt. The beginning of March 2021 saw a milestone reached in this process.

LG Chem is spinning off its battery business into a new subsidiary, LG Energy Solution. It also launched two new battery series, Resu Prime and Resu Flex. These devices rely on new battery cells with a higher power density and with up to 16 kWh, they have a higher capacity than previous models. The first products are expected to be shipped from February or March 2021.

You can try to succeed by making a better version of your competitors’ product, or you can try to do something completely new. NexWafe has chosen the second path. It is developing plans to manufacture wafers for high-efficiency solar cells in Bitterfeld, Germany, that are produced more sustainably and at lower cost than any other products available today.

Researchers are now simulating how the energy transition can be as successful and cost-effective as possible. As part of the simulation, they are also calculating how much hydrogen will be needed and where it could come from. In Germany, a recent study by Fraunhofer ISE showed that the cost is so low that the nation could gift itself the energy transition as a Christmas present.

Corporate power purchase agreements and the combination of PV plants with hydrogen production open up new medium-term financing opportunities for solar projects, as was demonstrated at the fourth session of the pv magazine Roundtable Europe event. The evolution of corporate deals may have been slowed by current price developments but hydrogen may come sooner than many had predicted.

The first session of the pv magazine Virtual Roundtables Europe on June 9 showed that the performance of PV arrays can be boosted with effective measures – proving it’s more than just theoretical. The evaluation of a portfolio of 70 plants prompted a performance boost of 8.4%. The video of the event is now online.

The performance ratio of an installation is stable, yet the yield and the revenues drop significantly. A U.K. case study shows that faults can compensate for performance ratio value, meaning this value is not always a good key performance indicator on its own. This issue will be discussed during the upcoming asset management session at the pv magazine virtual roundtable Europe 2020.