Germany

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.

The payback time in Germany for new solar systems below 10 kW is increasing. According to EUPD Research, it could be almost 22 years by as early as 2023.

German manufacturer 3-D Micromac said it has developed a new machine that can produce more than 6,000 wafers per hour. It is suitable for solar cells with temperature-sensitive coatings, or depositions such as heterojunction devices.

Scientists in Germany applied vapor-based deposition techniques and laser scribed interconnection – both well established processes in existing thin-film solar manufacturing – to fabricate perovskite mini modules. The group achieved a maximum efficiency of 18% for a device measuring 4cm². Relying on these processes, they say, could simplify processing and reduce losses associated with scaling up to commercial-sized devices.

The Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court, in Germany, has ruled that Longi Solar and REC have to pay a fine because they have not fully complied with the court order to recall their solar modules affected by the patent dispute in Germany.

The Euro trade body has promised to monitor the developing solar jobs market annually from now on, and pointed to Poland’s position at the top of the tree of EU member states for PV jobs last year as evidence the technology can still benefit from legislative backing.

The horizontal single-axis tracker has the typical size of 195×2.5m and its tracking range is 55 degrees. The new product is an evolution of the company’s two-in-portrait solution and was conceived to meet the increasing demand for one-in-portrait trackers.

Scientists in Germany investigated various routes to optimizing cell design for perovskite-silicon tandem products. Beyond the perovskite layer itself, they note several other areas that should be optimized for tandem cells, taking silicon heterojunction processing as a starting point. The research identifies several routes to cut costs in cell production, including a significant reduction in indium consumption.