Denmark

European Energy has built a solar array and is now constructing a wind farm to provide Apple’s data center in Denmark with 100% renewable energy. The PV project, which features bifacial panels, is the country’s largest unsubsidized PV installation in operation.

Better Energy is building the project on cultivated organic agricultural land in the municipality of Holstebro.

Danish researchers have shown that adding 250 W solar panels to all of the buggies in a 50-cart fleet is a profitable investment. With an upfront investment of around €75,000, annual benefits of around €15,000 are possible, they claim.

German PV asset manager Encavis and Danish renewables company Greengo have already secured approval for one large project.

Appetite may have been lacking among private investors – at a time when global stocks are tanking amid Covid-19 and global recession fears – but the eco-friendly new Finnish government, and neighboring administrations, have stepped in to fill the breach.

The Danish Energy Agency says there will be large scale PV projects in the Nissum Fjord area. One of the projects, under development by Better Energy in the municipality of Holstebro, has a planned generation capacity of 206 MW.

Solar has a small but increasingly important role to play in the Nordic energy transition. And while there is still a gap in PV cost-competitiveness across some markets, interest in solar facades, BIPV solutions and C&I applications is growing.

Scientists at the University of Southern Denmark working with sodium-ion batteries found that a new electrode material incorporating iron, manganese and phosphorous could increase both the power and capacity of the batteries.

Fire safety engineering researchers have demonstrated increasing the gap between the modules of commercial PV arrays and flat roof surfaces is a decisive factor in reducing fire risks. Experiments have identified a critical gap height below which flame spread rate increases significantly.

Researchers in Denmark have developed water-based nanofibers coated with a biological PV substance which can be easily injected into the body. The developers say excitable cells in the heart and brain could be regenerated by being electrically stimulated with the solution.