Eastern Europe

While it initially had a chilling effect on the Polish residential solar market, the transition from net metering to net billing has also resulted in positive changes, such as better sizing of rooftop PV systems and a higher rate of self-consumption, says Instytut Energetyki Odnawialnej (IEO), a Polish research body.

The Czech Republic is pouring an additional CZK 55 billion ($2.5 billion) into its New Green Savings program, which includes rooftop PV rebates, among other energy-saving measures in the residential sector.

Poland emerged as Europe’s third-biggest solar market in 2022, driven by the rapid uptake of PV micro-installations below 50 kW in size, but this year is already starting to look different. Marcin Ślęzak, chief commercial officer of Warsaw-based Menlo Electric, recently spoke to pv magazine about changes on the demand side and tech preferences in this thriving market.

PV deployment is gathering pace in the EU member state but grid capacity shortfalls and unpredictable shifts in government policy need to be addressed if the nation is to harness its full solar – and European energy security – potential.

The Polish government says it will launch the fifth round of its Mój Prąd program in April. The scheme will offer rebates for air and ground heat pumps, as well as residential batteries.

ACWA Power says it will develop three PV projects in Tashkent and Samarkand, Uzbekistan. It will also install storage capacity in Tashkent, Bukhara and Samarkand.

Solitek has revealed plans to build a new manufacturing facility in Benevento, Italy.

The record-breaking size and bustling halls of Enex Expo showed that the Polish PV market has no intention of slowing down. While last year’s switch from net metering to net billing is expected to continue to reverberate through the residential solar market, the commercial and industrial (C&I) and utility-scale PV market segments stand ready to pick up the slack.

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.

In its bid to develop fuel cells for aircraft with over 100 seats within 24 months, ZeroAvia has revealed record-breaking hydrogen fuel cell performance tests. Meanwhile, Universal Hydrogen and local partners are teaming up to build hydrogen infrastructures for aviation in Japan amid a push towards hydrogen infrastructure and mobility.