Europe

Renewable energy accounted for around 49.6% of total electricity demand in the the Netherlands in the first half of this year, according to data from the Nationaal Klimaat Platform.

The Irish government has decided to grant rebates ranging from €2,700 ($2,930) to €162,600 for PV projects with capacities ranging from 6 kW to 1 MW under the country’s net-metering scheme.

Data monitoring from 85 PV power plants built in Czechia between 2009 and 2010 show delamination plays a crucial role in significantly reducing their expected lifetime. The scientists behind the research explained that the main cause for the reduced lifetime was due not only to a poor estimation of the technical possibilities of the PV panels at the time of planning and installation, but also to a profit-led approach aimed at lowering the costs of the projects.

Poland will more than double its installed PV capacity between 2023 and 2025, according to research institute IEO. pv magazine spoke with IEO researcher Agata Krzyżanowska about the main market drivers, the trajectory of the auction system, and potential grid constraints.

LEAG, Germany’s second largest energy supplier, is planning a power-to-X project to produce hydrogen, store waste heat, generate electricity, and supply buses with hydrogen. The plant will also have a thermal solid-state storage facility with a capacity of 1,000 MWh.

European scientists used a nanosecond pulsed ultraviolet laser to reduce surface defects in perovskite films for solar cell applications. The result is a significant increase in cell efficiency and stability. The new technique may be particularly suitable for roll-to-roll (R2R) production lines.

Goldbeck and CEE Group say that their new 155 MW solar plant is now selling electricity to Engie under a 10-year power purchase agreement. The project is located on a former agricultural site.

The German authorities reviewed 342 MW of bids and selected 191 MW of projects in the nation’s sixth tender. The final prices ranged between €0.0880 ($0.0959)/kWh and €0.1080/kWh. The final average price was €0.1018/kWh.

China’s Sinopec has switched on the world’s largest solar-to-hydrogen project in Xinjiang, while India has unveiled a new plan to incentivize green hydrogen and electrolyzer production.

Jörg Müller, head of R&D for Qcells, recently spoke to pv magazine at Intersolar 2023 about the South Korea-based solar manufacturer’s tech roadmap, the adoption of TOPCon, and the prospects for making tandem perovskite-silicon modules. He said the first tandem products could hit the market by 2030.