Europe

Roughly €380 million ($403 million) has been earmarked for spending in Ireland’s residential and community grant upgrade schemes, which includes solar PV installations, according to the Irish government’s 2024 Budget. The head of the local energy association, however, cautions to pv magazine that the new budget may not be ‘quite so generous’ as it first appears.

Scientists in Spain tested PV modules under partial shading conditions, aiming to better understand the formation of performance-damaging hotspots. The study reveals a potential issue particularly affecting half-cell and bifacial modules, which may cause accelerated performance loss and is not covered by current testing/certification standards.

A team of Dutch university students under the banner Top Dutch Solar Racing has installed perovskite silicon tandem cells in its entry in the 16th edition of Bridgestone World Solar Challenge. The upcoming race is a six day, 3000 km expedition across the Australian continent, from Darwin to Adelaide.

Northvolt says it will use a circular economy approach to achieve 60 GW/h of annual cell production in Quebec, Canada, with a focus on assembling batteries for the US automotive market.

Italy and Greece have announced plans for a 1 GW subsea interconnection cable. The submarine cable, valued at €750 million ($794.9 million), will connect a new converter station in Galatina, Italy, with a station in Thesprotia, Greece.

Researchers in Switzerland have looked into three kinds of black ink coating for metallic ribbons used in PV modules. They have compared their visual stability and their effect on electrical performance.

Swedish researchers have analyzed the impact of electric aviation and electric vehicle (EV) charging on the power system at Visby Airport. They have discovered that on-site solar panels and battery storage could significantly reduce grid stress, and have proposed a novel approach to battery operation.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Energy Infrastructures and Geothermal Energy (Fraunhofer IEG) says it plans to open two new test benches for large heat pumps. Manufacturers, developers and project planners will have access to the test benches, in order to bring new systems to market maturity.

The Bulgarian government has opened public discussion for the country’s first renewable energy auction. Through the procurement exercise, it expects to allocate 1,425 MW of renewable energy power generation capacity and 350 MW of storage.

Fraunhofer ISE researchers have demonstrated for the first time the feasibility of the shingling approach with perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells. They also produced full format photovoltaic modules with a power conversion effciency of 22.8%.