France

The 15 to 20-year power purchase agreement is expected to provide around 2% of the electricity consumption of all SNCF passenger trains.

European scientists have developed mini modules with an active area of 14 cm² and a 3.68% efficiency rating. The panels also have a self-adjusting feature that can help to mitigate the amount of light when they are exposed to full sunlight, or to the temperatures of buildings with large windows and/or glass facades.

A global assessment of bifacial testing methods conducted in Singapore has endorsed the approach taken by France’s Institut National de l’Énergie Solaire.

The deal is the fourth power purchase agreement secured by Voltalia in its homeland. French retailer Auchan will buy the electricity under a 20-year contract.

The final average price for power generated by solar systems with capacities ranging from 100 kW to 500 kW came in at €96.49/MWh. The price for installations ranging in size from 500 kW to 8 MW was €86.17/MWh.

The levelized cost of energy generated by large scale solar plants is around $0.068/kWh, compared to $0.378 ten years ago and the price fell 13.1% between 2018 and last year alone, according to figures released by the International Renewable Energy Agency.

A €15.2 million power-to-X-to-power hydrogen storage facility is being planned in Saillat-sur-Vienne, in Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The project partners want to use renewable energy from the grid and water to produce and store electrolyzed hydrogen. It would then be mixed with natural gas to power an upgraded, 12 MW Siemens SGT-400 industrial gas turbine which previously generated steam for local manufacturing and would be able to return power to the grid to meet demand.

The 182 MW of new solar capacity installed in the first quarter of the year took the nation to a total 10,072 MW, according to the Ministry of Energy’s Department of Data and Statistical Studies.

pv magazine spoke to Mark Jones, chief executive of privately-owned clean energy investment company Susgen about where the newly-launched business is looking to spend the cash pile it has allocated for big, early-stage project pipelines.

The French government has selected seven agrivoltaic projects with a total generation capacity of 12 MW in its latest tender for innovative PV technology.