Belgium

The heatwave across Western Europe saw wind power 20% lower than usual while solar irradiance was 20% above average, according to Vaisala, a provider of measurement systems and equipment for meteorology. If this balancing effect is confirmed by further analysis, the technologies may ensure future energy supply by providing a diversified, ‘climate-resilient’ portfolio.

With a group purchasing program securing hefty discounts for British households – and attracting thousands of potential customers as a result – solar has a viable business case no matter what further cuts the government throws at the industry.

Construction on the 100 MW Kristal Solar Park is set to start in October. The facility will be located near the town of Lommel, in the Flemish province of Limburg. The project developer, local investment agency, Limburgse investeringsmaatschappij (LRM) said the project will be 34% cheaper than expected.

Having entered the solar space four years ago with residential rooftop kits, Ikea added storage to its product mix in 2017. pv magazine caught up with Signe Antvorskov Krag, Global Development Leader IKEA Home Solar Business to discuss business models, its role in the industry, and how it intends to execute the next stage of its plan: energy communities.

Belgian research institute, Imec has announced the achievement of 27.1% efficiency on a perovskite/silicon tandem cell, providing further evidence of the technology’s potential to provide a low cost efficiency boost to existing PV technology.

The virtual power plant (VPP) solutions provider connected its product with a 2 MW storage system in Belgium. It will be the country’s first storage system to take part in the grid’s frequency control reserve.

A new amendment to the region’s energy law allows enterprises to sell power to one other through the so-called direct line model, starting from 2019.

Belgian research institute imec announced that it has developed a screen printing process for n-PERT solar cells. In collaboration with Chinese module manufacturer Jolywood, the institute announced that it has used the process to develop bifacial cells with average frontside efficiency of 21.9%.

The installation of an 18 MW battery storage system shows the region’s pioneering work in integrating innovative storage systems to its electricity grid.

Flanders’ Ministry of Energy intends to make it easier for renewable energy suppliers to sell power to a final customer through a direct connection. This is expected to encourage industrial customers and public entities to increase consumption from clean energy sources.