Acceleration areas and shortened approval procedures are intended to ensure faster expansion of wind and solar parks as well as energy storage at the same locations. The move implements requirements from the EU Renewable Energy Directive of 2023. Approvals will also be facilitated for electrolyzers to ramp up hydrogen production.

The city of Zittau has now granted the building permit for the test facility, which is to be constructed by the beginning of next year. The aim is to develop cost-effective electrolyzers for the production of green hydrogen, in which the by-products oxygen and heat can be optimally used.

Solarnative launched insolvency proceedings and started searching for new investors in June.

German flow battery firm VoltStorage says its next stage of technology development will deliver 20-fold increase in performance.

The German authorities have reviewed 363 MW of bids to select 2559 MW of projects in the nation’s latest rooftop PV tender. The final prices ranged from €0.0795 ($0.0864)/kWh to €0.1019/kWh.

A series of inquiries to residential PV installers has revealed a tough consolidation phase in Germany’s solar installation market. With an increasing number of installers offering solar arrays at very low prices, competition is intensifying as companies vie for fewer orders.

Germany-based Phytonics has developed a self-adhesive film with microstructures to reduce glare on PV modules. It is available in sheets and rolls for new and existing PV systems.

Germany’s Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) says 220,000 balcony PV systems were installed in the country in the first half of the year, reaching 200 MW.

The German police have arrested Christian Laibacher, the CEO of German solar manufacturer Solarfabrik, in relation to an investigation by the Würzburg public prosecutor over alleged customs violations by PV wholesaler ESC Verwaltungs GmbH & Co.KG during the minimum import price period for Chinese solar modules.

Austrian inverter maker Fronius has cut another 650 jobs due to high inverter inventories and no expected upturn.