Finland

European Parliament groupings, renewable energy associations and climate activists have voiced disappointment at the EU Climate Law officially unveiled yesterday. Lack of a raised emission-reduction ambition to 2030 is at the heart of the opposition, with critics saying the plan will be insufficient to help prevent global temperatures rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius.

A European research team has developed a dye-sensitized PV cell based on a copper iodide complex. The device was conceived for use in self-powered and internet of things devices.

Solar has a small but increasingly important role to play in the Nordic energy transition. And while there is still a gap in PV cost-competitiveness across some markets, interest in solar facades, BIPV solutions and C&I applications is growing.

A study from Finland’s Lappeenranta University of Technology has predicted solar and other renewables can provide a global energy jobs revolution – just as four European operations revealed recent struggles.

The chief executive of the Finnish manufacturer – which this month missed another deadline to complete payment for the Lithuanian cell factory it acquired from Solitek – has insisted the €3.5 million convertible bond issue which was today extended by three months will not determine the fate of his company.

The European Commission has approved use of funds given by seven member states to back Europe-wide R&D projects across the lithium-ion battery value chain, with the aim of potentially unlocking an additional €5 billion in private sector investment.

Britain’s renewable energy trade body has published a report examining the state of flexibility market readiness in nine European markets. The result makes for sobering reading for Germany, France and the U.K.

The Finnish solar manufacturer must raise €3.5 million from a convertible bond issued on Monday and which closes on December 18. Generate the cash and production is expected to start at the Solitek facility in Vilnius early next year. Fail, and (almost) all bets are off.

Research from Finland’s Aalto University claims the residential cooling sector could sustain 540 GW of solar generation capacity if the world’s air conditioning systems were solar powered. Academics say synergies between PV and the cooling industry will become stronger as demand for the latter shifts nearer the equator, where seasonal differences in weather are less pronounced.

The levelized cost of energy produced by large scale PV projects ranges from €24/MWh in southern Spain to €42/MWh in Finland. New research states that is already cheaper than the average spot market electricity price and that the figure for big facilities in southern Spain may fall to €14 in 2030 and €9 in 2050.