Germany

In an update to its annual International Technology Roadmap for Photovoltaics, German engineering association VDMA discusses the readiness level for various technologies in PV cell and module manufacturing, finding that more process development is needed for 210mm wafers – the largest format currently on the market – to match the throughputs that will soon be achievable with smaller formats including 182mm.

The new plan would require the deployment of around 15 GW of new PV capacity each year to 2030. The agreement also includes the gradual phasing out of all coal power plants by the end of the decade.

Industry association SolarPower Europe expects little change in the line-up of Europe’s biggest residential battery markets in four years’ time, with a rush of retrofits as turn-of-the-century solar feed-in tariffs begin to expire, set to keep Germany way ahead of the pack.

Developed by German company Sinn Power, the floating platform currently hosts solar modules totaling 80 kW and may also embed small wind turbines and wave energy converters.

The German Federal Cartel Office is currently reviewing the transaction. RWE confirmed the plan.

The result was certified by Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems’ (ISE) CalLab and included in the charts of the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Scientists at Germany’s Fraunhofer Insititute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) evaluated the performance of its newly introduced ‘Matrix’ approach to interconnecting shingled solar cells. The institute finds that, thanks to optimized current flows, energy yield of the Matrix approach could almost double that of standard shingled cell interconnection under random shading conditions.

Aukera Energy, launched as a brand today but staffed by clean energy professionals who have worked with backer AtlasInvest for at least a decade, says it already has more than 1 GW of solar and wind capacity under development in Italy, Poland and the U.K. and wants to almost treble the scale of that portfolio within 12 months.

Scientists in Germany analyzed the main sources of performance loss in a silicon heterojunction cell, and developed several optimization strategies to improve overall performance. By adding a second layer of amorphous silicon at the rear of the device, and a magnesium fluoride anti-reflective layer, they were able to boost cell efficiency by around 1% to reach 24.51%.

According to media reports, the separation from the photovoltaic project developer is said to be part of the energy company’s plans to streamline its renewables business.