Europe

In the third interview of a series, pv magazine spoke to Prof. Arvind Shah of École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne and Associate Prof. Alessandro Romeo from the University of Verona about the challenges and opportunities of cadmium telluride (CdTe) PV tech. They said there is still potential to ramp up efficiency and cut costs, and claimed that the toxicity of cadmium should not be seen as a serious concern.

With South Africa holding 63,000 of the world’s estimated 69,000 metric tons of platinum reserves – according to the Statista.com website – and Russia and Zimbabwe a further 5,100 between them, the European Commission has cited the metal as an example of a potential supply chain bottleneck that could handicap its grand plans for renewables-powered hydrogen production.

pv magazine will be hanging out with the great and the good of the European solar scene this week, during the three-day SolarPower Summit 2021 organized by industry body SolarPower Europe, which began on Monday. Keep an eye on this live blog for regular updates from our virtual correspondents.

The new electrolyser with anion exchange membrane technology is expected to produce 450 kilograms per day and will be available on the market in 2022.

Dutch researchers have studied how solar parks can be blended into the landscape across 11 “frontrunner” sites in Europe. They considered visual impact, land availability, and end-of-life issues.

The Swiss federal government has also decided to improve the bureaucratic procedures for the installation of solar PV systems.

The Swedish company secured $38 million to build a manufacturing facility it has planned with the support of Swiss conglomerate ABB. The factory will be located in Stockholm and produce the company’s Powerfoyle products.

While solar, wind and hydro generated 80 TWh more electricity last year than in 2019, coal and oil use fell in every EU member state, and Greek energy emissions fell almost 19%.

The Italian PV world remains cautiously skeptical about the €220 billion post-pandemic recovery plan that Rome presented last week. It outlines steps for agrivoltaics, but retains preferential treatment for the gas sector (biomethane and hydrogen), and notes the marginal role of batteries and pumping systems. However, the green policies are not final and could still be shaped by related decrees and non-financial measures.

U.K. researchers have developed a flexible thin-film cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar cell for use in ultra-thin glass for space applications.