Sunfire secures €109 million investment to accelerate green hydrogen technology growth
The leading industrial electrolyzer maker is planning to expand its alkaline electrolysis business with the construction of a large-scale production site in Germany that will have an annual manufacturing capacity of 500 MW by 2023, with a further extension to gigawatt-scale already in the planning.
Reliance Industries to invest $29 million in Nexwafe
Reliance New Energy Solar, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries led by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, which is planning a huge manufacturing venture in Gujarat, India, has led a series C financing round in German wafer manufacturer NexWafe with an investment of EUR 25 million ($29 million). This marks the third major investment in renewables announced by the Indian multinational this week.
Meyer Burger unveils new solar tiles
Meyer Burger plans to start selling a new building-integrated PV product from 2022. It says the solar tiles have a high energy yield, with simplified installation and the ability to also provide heating. German engineering company paXos designed the tiles.
New ‘matrix’ layout for shingled solar cells
German equipment supplier M10 and research institute Fraunhofer ISE will unveil a new prototype stringer for shingled module layouts at the Intersolar Europe trade show later this week. Employing an offset layout for the shingles, the approach promises a relative efficiency gain of up to 6%, compared to a conventional half-cell module.
M-Tec launches modular battery with integrated hybrid inverter
The modular battery can be cascaded up to 30.7 kWh of storage capacity. The Energy Butler is a storage kit made up of up to eight modules.
Photovoltaic-plus-boiler solution from Germany
The photovoltaic boiler can be easily be installed by the users themselves. The solar modules are connected to the boiler via an MC4 contact plug, and heat the water.
Monitoring near-infrared transmission for a healthy backsheet
Scientists in Germany developed a method to determine the structure and degradation of module backsheets and encapsulants in the field, by analyzing the material’s near infrared light transmission. Applying the theory to a multi-MW PV plant, the group was able to identify four different backsheet types. With further development, the method could be a valuable tool to monitor module degradation in the field and spot faults early on.
Germany deployed 434.5 MW of PV in August
The newly installed PV capacity for the first eight months of the year was 3.6 GW, which compares to 3.2 GW in the same period of 2020.
Heckert Solar inaugurates 400 MW solar panel factory in Germany
The German manufacturer invested €21 million in the manufacturing facility. It will be devoted to producing the company’s new product series.
How much glass is needed for terawatt-scale PV?
German scientists have assessed demand for resources such as glass and silver until 2100 and have found that current tech learning rates could be sufficient to avoid supply concerns.
