France

Recom is offering five versions of its new all-black panels, with power outputs ranging from 440 W to 460 W and efficiency ratings of 22.5% to 23.6%. They feature 108 half-cut monocrystalline cells with n-type and back-contact technology.

France reached 17.15 GW of cumulative installed PV capacity at the end of March.

CEA-INES researchers and Enel have developed a new solar cell with an active area of 9 cm² and an open-circuit voltage above 1,900 mV. Their results improve on the 26.5% efficiency they achieved for the same kind of cell in March.

In March 2023, France passed a law to accelerate the production of renewable energy. In this interview, Bertrand Drouot L’Hermine, Deputy General Manager Business Development with TSE, discusses the important role agrivoltaics will play not only in weaning the country off fossil fuels, but also in providing benefits to France’s farmers.

Akuo, a French independent power producer, has secured a 20-year power purchase agreement for a 8.7 MW floating PV array in southern France.

France’s GLHD uses AI tech for landscape integration through a tablet app that displays and visualizes fixed structures at agrivoltaic farms.

Butagaz is expanding into the French solar market in cooperation with its subsidiaries, Soltea, Solwea, and Sys Enr.

French off-grid specialist Sunwind has developed a light, curved solar panel that can be used at ski resorts. It is currently working with CEA-Liten to develop its own solar panel encapsulation line.

French grid operator Enedis has identified 187 collective self consumption operations in France, as of the end of March. The operations bring together 2,200 consumers and more than 300 producers, generating 11 MW total power capacity, mainly from solar.