Balance of Systems

Spain’s Acciona Energia is using fiberglass from the blades of used wind turbines to make the torsion beams of solar trackers. It is using the tech as part of a pilot project in Badajoz, Spain.

Vaillant has revealed that it has opened a new heat pump factory in Slovakia. The facility will exclusively make heat pumps from May, with an expected annual output of 300,000 units.

A lot has changed in tracker technology in the past decade, so in upgrading its Alamo plants, OCI Solar Power completely replaced the old tracker with a new state-of-the-art system, all while keeping the plant energized.

Indonesia is a coal-dependent country in which conventional power grids are problematic. The archipelagic nation is turning to floating PV (FPV) to help accelerate its energy transition. Sorta Caroline takes a look at the state of play for water-borne solar and the problems that still need to be overcome.

The European Union is working on a draft proposal, which pv magazine has seen, that would require 85% of the components used in European wind farms – along with 60% of heat pumps, 85% of batteries, and 85% of electrolyzers – to be manufactured on the continent.

Emilio Jorquera, technical account manager at Senergy Technical Services (STS), tells pv magazine that greater standardization is needed in the battery storage market.

BayWa AG is strategically realigning BayWa re so it can sell its solar trade business. In the future, the subsidiary will focus on international projects as an independent power producer (IPP).

Landatu Solar has introduced a lightweight, plastic system that can be filled with water, sand, or gravel to function as a solar mounting system on flat surfaces. The units can be stacked on top of each other to facilitate transport.

PVH has confirmed that it will build a new manufacturing facility in Valencia, Spain. The factory will raise its global tracker production capacity to 25 GW.

Felix Krause, co-founder the Vireo Ventures, tells pv magazine that the Berlin-based company plans to make pre-seed and seed-phase investments in startups that are developing innovations for the energy transition.