CEA-INES, Enel achieve 29.8% efficiency for tandem perovskite-silicon solar cell
The 9 cm² cell consists of a top cell based on a perovskite absorber and a bottom cell with a heterojunction (HJT) structure. The results improve on the 28.4% efficiency CEA and Enel achieved for the same kind of cell in December.
The Hydrogen Stream: US government offers $62 million for hydrogen tech
The US Department of Energy has announced $62 million for 20 projects to accelerate hydrogen technology, while international researchers have revealed how hydrogen injection into existing natural gas infrastructure could affect 115 million gas meters in the European Union.
Finland to build world’s largest air-to-water heat pump plant
Helen, a Helsinki-based energy company, has unveiled plans for a large-scale district heating plant complex. Germany’s MAN Energy Solutions is supplying a 33 MW air-to-water heat pump, the largest ever used for a district-heating plant, with ambient air and renewable electricity for heat generation.
France deploys 1.05 GW of PV in Q2
The French government says the nation installed 1.05 GW of new solar in the second quarter, bringing the country’s cumulative installed PV capacity to 22.2 GW by the end of June.
Italian startup offers new bird-protection solution for rooftop PV
Italy-based Italgam has developed a new technology to prevent pigeons from nesting under rooftop solar panels. The EVO 2.0 solution uses brushes that fit between the backside of the panels and the roof.
UK allocates more than 3 GW of solar through CfD auction
Record contracts for difference (CfDs) auction for UK solar results in more than 90 projects securing fixed-price contracts. It follows intervention from the new UK government in summer 2024 to increase the auction budget. Strike prices achieved for all renewables technologies were well below the auction’s ceiling price.
Assessing floating PV costs across Europe
Researchers have analyzed the viability of floating PV in terms of net present value, internal rate of return, and LCOE. They included 25 European countries in their work, including Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Italy.
Germany awards 2.15 GW in PV tender with lowest bid of €0.0450/kWh
The German authorities have awarded 2.15 GW of utility-scale solar in a new tender, with bids ranging from €0.0450 ($0.05)/kWh to €0.0524/kWh. The tender was oversubscribed to 4.2 GW.
Fraunhofer CSP developing new patent infringement investigation methods for PV technologies
The German research institute is working on developing advanced, high-resolution material and thin film characterization methods that may become a set of simplified and rapid measurement procedures for routine use in intellectual property investigations.
New ways to feed the world’s lithium habit
Amid significant environmental concern about the impact of more widespread lithium mining, various methods of extracting the battery material from brine could offer a cleaner solution – and reignite a historic Cornish industry.
