Highlights

Balcony solar modules are becoming increasingly popular. TÜV, a technical inspection association in Germany, has come up with tips to safely install and operate them.

Stiebel Eltron says it will quadruple its heat pump manufacturing capacity at its factory in Holzminden, Germany. It also plans to triple the number of industrial jobs it provides to 1,200 positions by 2027.

Vena Energy says it has commissioned the largest PV project in Taiwan. It says its 272 MW E2 Solar Project will account for 4% of the island’s annual solar output.

According to Aurora Energy Research, Europe is on track to install at least 95 GW of grid-scale battery energy storage systems by 2050, up from 5 GW of installed capacity today, and representing more than €70 billion ($76.9 billion) of investment.

Bosch has announced plans to build its first heat pump factory in Dobromierz, Poland. The German heating manufacturer will invest €225 million ($247.3 million) in the new facility, which is expected to start operations in early 2026.

Swedish researchers have developed a method to recycle valuable metals from flexible thin film copper-indium-gallium-diselenide (CIGS) solar cells under mild leaching conditions. They showed that 100% of silver and 85% of indium can be recovered after 24 hours of leaching at room temperature using two moles of nitric acid.

US energy consultancy LevelTen Energy said in a recent report on solar and wind power purchase agreements in Europe that the prices of wind and solar power purchase agreements (PPAs) in the European markets increased by 56% year-on-year to reach €88.88 ($97.40)/MWh in the first quarter of this year.

Brazil’s distributed-generation solar capacity has hit 20.186 GW, with more than 10.204 GW of residential rooftop installations.

The US authorities will offer new funds under the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to build a clean energy economy, create new manufacturing jobs, and help families to save money on their energy bills.

Germany added 2.65 GW of new PV capacity in the first three months of this year. In March alone, the nation’s new PV additions hit 944 MW.