Commercial & Industrial PV

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has announced a mandate for rooftop solar on commercial and public buildings by 2027, and for residential buildings by 2029. The EU target for renewable energy has been increased from 40% to 45%.

Scientists in the United Arab Emirates have looked at how off-grid rooftop PV could be combined with batteries, fuel cells or reversible solid oxide cells for energy storage. The modeling assumed a typical commercial building in Los Angeles.

APsystems has developed a new 97%-efficient microinverter with a power output of up to 2,000 VA. It says it is particularly suitable for PV systems with high-power solar modules.

Germany’s latest solar procurement exercise resulted in final prices of €0.07 ($0.073)/kWh to €0.0891/kWh.

Indian scientists have developed a system under which a pumped-hydro facility stores grid electricity during off-peak hours by pumping water to an upper reservoir. During peak hours, the system feeds the load, rather than taking power from the grid.

Switzerland-based Novartis has deployed a 36 kW building-integrated PV facade on its new exhibition center in Basel. The system features 10,680 organic PV modules from France’s Asca.

The International Energy Agency expects solar, wind power, and other renewable energy technologies to achieve triple-digit global growth this year, with new PV additions set to reach almost 200 GW.

Subsidies for PV projects are a divisive topic in European countries. Mistakes of the past hang over fresh decision-making processes. Experts argue that changing market conditions are making even months-old schemes too generous, while missing the real issues.

All the products rely on the company’s 210 rectangular silicon wafer (G12R) cell technology. The manufacturer claims these new products can increase the installed capacity of residential roofs by 5-7%. The largest panel is a 21.5%-efficient device with a power output of up to 580 W and the smallest features an efficiency of up to 21.3% and a nominal power of up to 425 W.

Schneider Electric and AutoGrid are partners on a fully integrated distribution management system and a distributed energy resources management system (DERMS).