Europe

EV sales are set to be 1.7 million off because of the economic fallout of the Covid-19 crisis, however analyst BloombergNEF predicts that will be less of a hit than the anticipated fall in sales of conventional cars, increasing the penetration of electric models into the overall market.

Rivas-Vaciamadrid-based company Aurinka is planning to start UMG silicon manufacturing in Puertollano, Castile-La Mancha, this year. The company says its patented low-carbon production process offers low enough manufacturing costs to compete with Asian rivals.

German panel maker Sonnenstromfabrik has developed a glass-glass monocrystalline PV module in three versions offering different levels of transparency. The company says the transparency feature makes the panels suitable for verandas, pergolas, awnings, carports, swimming pools, halls and facades. Their power output varies from 160 W to 280 W, while their efficiency ranges from 9.5% to 16.7%.

The country’s coalition government reached an agreement on Monday to remove the limit from the national renewable energy law. However, economy minister Peter Altmaier has not said when the measure will be implemented.

Energy company EPV Energy is planning to build a 100 MW solar park to replace peat energy production. Peers Wärtsilä and Vantaa Energy are planning a power-to-gas facility to produce carbon-neutral synthetic biogas using electricity and carbon dioxide from a waste-to-energy plant.

Pure EVs had begun to claim a rising market share before coronavirus containment measures decimated sales last month. Even in the face of an 88% monthly fall in EV sales from March to April, however, clean energy models fared better than petrol and diesel sales.

In its next procurement exercise, the Hungarian government will allocate 77% of the available renewable subsidies that it failed to assign in March’s auction.

Hive Energy has been planning the Cleve Hill Solar Park since 2017. It now expects to secure final approval from the U.K. Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy by the end of this month.

Scientists in Germany and China have developed an additive which greatly improved the performance of a tin-based perovskite solar cell. Cells fabricated with the additive reached 9.1% efficiency, and the researchers say their work opens up many new possibilities to improve the performance of lead-free perovskites.

OMV Petrom has installed rooftop PV arrays on 40 of its gas stations across Romania.