The 11th edition of the German document which tracks solar price falls and efficiency improvements has considered the role bigger wafers are playing in cost reduction.

Trina Solar has been producing its 500 W modules in series for a month now and plans to increase their output to more than 600 W in the future.

EuPD Research has conducted a survey showing that potential investors see Germany’s 52 GW cap for solar incentives in the residential segment as the main barrier to future growth. Renewable energy trade body Bundesverband Neue Energiewirtschaft, meanwhile, said the nation has the potential to reach 1,000 GW of installed solar capacity by 2050.

German company GP Joule wants to build hydrogen transport infrastructure in North Friesland. The electricity generated by five wind farms in the region will be converted to green hydrogen to be delivered to filling stations in Husum and Niebüll and used by two fuel-cell buses and five cars.

EuPD Research estimates around 65,000 energy storage systems linked to rooftop PV were installed last year thanks to increasingly popular solar arrays and electric vehicles as well as rising electricity prices.

The government wants to see off a potential slump in the PV market as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The increase means CHF376 million worth of rebates will be available for solar systems.

Austrian power provider Verbund has shut down its coal-fired district heating plant in the state of Styria as planned. This means that coal power generation in Austria is now history, paving the way for a switch to a 100% renewable power supply by 2030. However, Photovoltaic Austria emphasizes that Austria needs a well-considered plan for clean energy, as a quarter of the nation’s electricity is still generated from fossil fuels.

According to a recent survey by EuPD Research, political conditions are to blame for the expected slowdown, rather than the coronavirus pandemic. The potential failure to remove the 52 GW cap for solar incentives is expected to have a much stronger impact on potential investors.

Perhaps it is not surprising a report co-produced by Europe’s solar industry places PV at the heart of a zero-carbon, mid-century energy system on the continent. However, the study does flesh out two out of three scenarios in which becoming carbon-neutral by 2050, or even 2040, could be possible.

More than 1,200 solar modules will be installed on the south side of a dam 2,100 meters above sea level. The facility planned by utility EWZ is set to be ready this year.