Germany to tender another 1.5 GW of solar power
The German authorities say that the country’s new 1.5 GW tender is a response to the current energy crisis. Selected PV projects will have to reach completion within nine months after securing feed-in premium tariffs.
Solar-powered coffee bikes from Germany
Germany’s Liontron said it can prepare 300 cups of coffee per day from the PV modules and storage tech on its bicycles for beverage vendors. This means its mobile coffee shops can operate without grid connections.
ZSW, Tubesolar achieve 14% efficiency for thin-film agrivoltaic solar tubes
TubeSolar and the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg have achieved a power conversion efficiency of 14% for a photovoltaic film based on perovskite.
World’s third-largest PV system on a stadium roof reaches completion
The stadium of German football club SC Freiburg hosts a 2.4 MW rooftop solar array relying on heterojunction modules provided by Swiss manufacturer Meyer Burger.
Wacker to expand silicon metal production in Norway
Polysilicon manufacturer Wacker has launched a feasibility study for its expansion plans in Norway. It said its production capacity in the village of Holla could increase by 50% by 2025.
Green Cell unveils 5kWh residential battery
Called GC PowerNest, the battery has a storage capacity of 5kWh and a voltage of 51.2V. It is scalable in an eight-stack configuration, thus reaching a capacity of up to 40kWh.
Mini-PPAs for residential PV in Germany
German renewable energy producer Trianel plans to buy solar power from residential PV systems via mini power purchase agreements, starting from the second quarter. It will then sell the electricity to the energy futures market.
Green hydrogen, blue hydrogen to reach cost parity in Europe by 2030
The direct coupling of electrolyzers with PV and wind power systems will become the cheapest forms of energy in many parts of Europe, according to Aurora Energy Research.
Europe’s first solar-powered electric aircraft charging point
The pilot project is aimed at powering small electric aircraft. It is located in the southeast of England and was developed with 33 modules from Q-Cells.
German consortium develops gallium nitride grid-supporting inverters
Researchers from German research institutes and companies are working on applying semiconductors based on gallium nitride (GaN) to string inverters with the aim of enabling cost and weight reduction while maintaining very high efficiency. These devices are expected to support grid operations through faster switching processes.
