Highlights

SunCrafter is a small German startup with a global ambition: to alleviate energy poverty by upcycling used solar PV modules. Having established an innovative business model, which sees it subsidizing its goals by meeting the infrastructure needs of big events and festivals, it has now partnered with EU-funded project Circusol to demonstrate the viability of circular renewables. pv magazine interviewed SunCrafter CEO and co-founder Lisa Wendzich as part of the UP initiative’s circular manufacturing quarterly theme.

The European Commission has outlined a long-anticipated plan it says could unlock up to €340 billion for new solar and wind projects over the next decade. The 30-year strategy envisages up to €470 billion being spent on electrolyzer capacity.

The Korean company has committed to invest in solar innovation in Germany at a time when the EU and member states are desperately trying to kick-start the Covid-19 recovery.

The super-hydrophobic coating uses nanoparticles to reduce dust deposition on solar panels and cleans itself by the movement of water on modules.

Scientists led by MIT have suggested chitin, a carbon and nitrogen-rich material made from waste shrimp shells, could produce sustainable electrodes for vanadium redox flow batteries and other energy storage technologies.

The new, bigger Sunrun will have 500,000 customers and more than 3 GW of solar power assets. Is there value in scale in residential solar?

Accreditation institute DNV GL has made some astonishing carbon-related predictions as it prepares the next edition of its Energy Transition Outlook report. The Norwegian body says transport-related emissions have peaked and those of the iron and steel industries may well have too.

Responsibility in battery supply chains has become a growing focal point over the last few years and will remain a key theme as demand for mobile phones, electric vehicles, and alternative forms of energy continue to increase. Alexander Preston from SAFE sets out how the application of blockchain technology can deliver visibility, build trust, and facilitate the battery sector’s digital transformation.

The new 1 GW Yeka tender in Turkey is more than welcome, says KRC Consulting’s Hakki Karacaoglan and Life Enerji’s Ramazan Aslan. Regulations to enable “green electricity” tariffs, also announced this month, add further momentum to the country’s solar sector – allowing Turkish consumers choose renewable energy for their power supply.

A study into the clean energy tech innovation rate required to keep global heating under control may suggest concepts such as lithium-air could yet keep us to the mid-century ambition, but it is also starting to contemplate the temperature rise to be expected if we only achieve net-zero by 2070.