Europe

France’s new feed-in tariffs (FITs) for the period from May to July 2024 range from €0.1735 ($0.1850)/kWh for installations below 3 kW to €0.1141/kWh for arrays ranging in size from 100 kW to 500 kW.

Stefan Wippich, the CEO and co-founder of Germany’s SecondSol platform, recently spoke with pv magazine about the development of the used PV module market. Wippich noted national differences and argued that it will be important to set rules for the trading of secondhand products.

PV Cycle Belgium says it collected and processed 404 tons of solar panels for recycling during the first quarter of this year. It notes that the number of solar panels it has collected over the last five years has more than quadrupled.

A Dutch research team have developed a solar radiation forecasting model that uses the long short-term memory (LSTM) technique. The proposed methodology reportedly achieves better results than other forecasting approaches.

Researchers in Sweden have analyzed how roll-bonded PVT collectors can act as secondary heat sources in ground-source heat pumps and have found they provide a better performance than conventional PVT panels. Their techno-economic analysis also showed roll-bonded PVT systems can be up to 9% more expensive than conventional installations based on sheet and tube absorbers.

Enphase Energy says that Octopus Energy’s retail customers will be able to integrate solar and battery systems into their energy plans in the UK market, with the introduction of Enphase IQ8 microinverters and the IQ battery 5P platform.

EDF says its heat-pump tracker tariff is the United Kingdom’s first, as it will never charge its customers more than the price cap, guaranteeing savings of at least GBP 164 ($202) per year. It says it is also offering a GBP 750 discount on new heat pump installations.

Germany-based Sinn Power plans to build a 1.8 MW floating PV system with vertically deployed solar modules. Construction is expected to start this summer.

German researchers are studying using an overhead solar PV system, designed to be removable and reusable, as a sunshade for young fir trees. The pilot, located at a quartz sand excavation site, will be monitored to compare growth and water consumption with an adjacent unshaded tree plot.

Greece has grand plans for an interconnector network that runs from the Middle East through to the heart of Europe. pv magazine examines the latest developments on the road to a Mediterranean super grid and what it might mean for the regions involved.