Europe

Moixa has wrapped up an £8.6 million funding round led by Honda. The U.K. smart battery specialist will use the funds to finance the global expansion of its business managing residential battery systems, electric vehicles and smart charging facilities, as well as the aggregation of battery capacity for grid services.

The sustainable projects lender wants to become a pioneer in the financing of unsubsidized PV ground mounted systems. The loans have a term of 25 years and operators need a PPA with at least five years’ maturity at a fixed price.

Scientists seeking the next generation of highly efficient PV devices have found inspiration in nature. Researchers from the U.K.’s University of Birmingham and the University of Utrecht, in the Netherlands, examined the light harvesting mechanisms in ocean microalgae that are said to be up to 95% efficient.

For installations with a generation capacity of less than 10 kW, the feed-in tariff will rise 36% to €0.165/kWh and all installations below 500 kW are set to benefit from an improved regulatory framework.

Europe saw the largest upswing of new PV installations over the past year, in particular after the minimum import price on modules ended. Installations grew by 23% in 2018, reaching 12 GW. IHS Markit forecasts the region to surpass 19 GW in 2019. The reason for this revived growth, writes Research & Analysis Manager Josefin Berg, is a combination of the increased cost competitiveness of PV, more initiatives outside of subsidy schemes, and new policy initiatives to meet 2020 and 2030 targets.

The expansion of The smarter E Europe exhibition and conference continues apace in 2019, with the growth of power-to-gas as well as solar and battery storage’s increasing competitiveness capturing new territory. It is managing to meet both system requirements and customer demand.

A research team has applied a waterproof coating obtained from graphite to a perovskite cell intended to power the production of hydrogen underwater. The cell is said to have worked underwater longer than expected.

The 8.8 MW project, in Mecklenburg-Pomerania, will sell power to industrial customers through a long-term PPA. Construction is expected to begin in June.

After signing multiple PPAs for big solar projects in the Iberian peninsula as a buyer of electricity, the Spanish utility has announced it intends sell power from its own solar facilities. The planned PV plant portfolio will be spread across Andalucía, Castilla la Mancha and Murcia.

By 2025, the furniture giant plans to offer solar panels worldwide at its stores. The company is in negotiation with potential partners and a supplier for the sale of PV panels in Sweden, which is planned to start in the autumn.