Europe

Researchers from Switzerland’s École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne have unveiled a new solar dish plant design, while Plug Power has delivered its first electrolyzer system to Europe.

The European Commission has opened a call for evidence on its plan to accelerate heat pump roll-out across the European Union. It is asking citizens and businesses for feedback on four strands of action, focusing on financing, legislation, skills, research and innovation. The call for feedback is open until May 26.

France installed 743 MW of new PV installations in the fourth quarter alone.

Irish researchers have created a mobile app that calculates the best route for solar-powered vehicles based on user preferences for time and energy efficiency. The app’s experiment predicted the most energy-absorbing route with 51.65% accuracy and chose the most energy-consuming route with 86.65% accuracy.

Thin-film technologies have long promised to make a major impact on the solar industry but have largely been constrained to niche applications and research labs if they were not shredded by the market. After several false starts, current trade dynamics and promising research programs may help solar thin films find their place in the sun.

Deloitte says blue and green hydrogen could supply 13% of US industrial process heat by 2050 with strong policy incentives, carbon pricing, and hydrogen supply targets as primary policy variables.

Clementy Group – a UK-based investment firm – has decided to scrap its plans to invest €95 million ($104.5 million) in Fimer, as the Italian inverter maker’s shareholders have reportedly failed to issue shares that were needed for the investment. Fimer originally filed for creditor protection in February 2022.

Badenova has installed 912 glass-glass PV modules along a cycling path in the city of Freiburg, Germany, as part of a new pilot project.

With speculation rife UK prime minister Rishi Sunak could call a general election next year, Robert Cathcart, a blogger for English installer Solar Fast, takes a look at just how green the current government is.

An international research group used the ultrasonic spray pyrolysis (USP) method to fabricate an antimony trisulfide PV cell with high power conversion efficiency and remarkable average visible transmittance. The cell has an active area of 7.06 mm2.