Germany

At pv magazine’s 9th Quality Roundtable, held last month in Germany, a host of experts debated pressing quality issues, from LID in PERC modules, to hailstorm damage and faulty backsheets. In a video interview, Stephan Padlewski of DuPont goes into more detail about the quality debate, and how it has developed over the past years. He also discusses DuPont’s testing regime.

Andreas Liebheit, President of Heraeus Photovoltaics, has stepped down for personal reasons. He has been temporarily replaced by Raymund Chua, Head of HPT in Singapore and Head of Heraeus’ Asia-Pacific Regional Center.

The German PV home storage provider delivered around 1,500 solar batteries globally last month. At around 75%, most systems went to Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

At a creditors’ meeting, important decisions have been made regarding the future of the ailing German solar module manufacturer. The creditors have decided to discontinue the loss-making business at the end of September, providing no investor can be found by then.

In the wake of the U.S.-China trade dispute, the Chinese government has loosened its policy on ownership caps for factory sites for foreign car brands. Previously, car companies could only retain 50% of the ownership of a factory and had to set up a joint venture with a Chinese partner. By setting up shop in China, Tesla can avoid import duties on its cars, to cater to a broader customer base.

According to numbers released by German association BDEW, in the first half of the 2018, renewables contributed 36.3% to gross electricity generation, while PV increased its share to 7.3%. Furthermore, the association said that the market-driven, phased exit from coal-fired power generation is already in full swing.

Ecoligo has launched another financing round for the installation of a rooftop solar PV system at a flower farm in Kenya. The system is set to reduce the farm’s grid electricity demand by 50%, and lower its OPEX.

The Chinese battery manufacturer has said it will establish a fab in Germany’s Thüringen with an annual capacity of 14 GWh. The battery cells will be primarily produced for the electric vehicle (EV) industry. Up to 600 jobs are expected to be created. In related news, BMW has entered a €4 billion long-term partnership with CATL.

The cell uses a novel approach that increases its conversion efficiency and longevity at the same time. Researchers claim it is a new world record for this type of application and highlight its importance in storing renewable energy in hydrogen to compensate for output and demand fluctuations.

The new shareholder obtained business operations, and shares in the German solar PV company. This transition finalizes Schletter’s financial recovery.