Germany

PV demand grew 68% year-on-year from the level seen in 2017 as Germany’s cumulative installed solar generation capacity reached 45.92 GW.

Worldwide, “Suntrol” has around 27,500 registered users. The Germany-based start up will further develop the insolvent PV manufacturer’s portal from March onwards.

The voltage is key to improving efficiency, the scientists say. It indicates how much energy is lost within the cell through ‘recombination processes’.

Companies in the United States accounted for more than 60% of the clean energy deals signed by corporations worldwide last year, according to BloombergNEF. A proposed renewable portfolio standard for Chinese business, though, could turn the picture upside down in a year’s time.

German states with coal mining regions would receive a total of €40 billion from the federal government over 20 years for structural change under the terms of the Coal Commission’s proposal, while operators of coal-fired plants would receive compensation.

The German inverter maker struggled after China’s announcement at the end of May drove down prices and markets around the world and left a clear mark on its figures. Both the commercial PV segment and the storage business fell short of expectations due to delivery bottlenecks.

The global market stagnated last year, with around 98 GW deployed. For 2019, the experts expect stronger solar growth, provided there are no setbacks in China.

Germany’s new energy law includes tenders for large-scale PV that could bring around 4 GW of new capacity online. Carsten Körnig, MD of the German Solar Association, told pv magazine the tenders could generate turnover of up to €4.5 billion for EPC contractors.

Transition to a world run entirely on clean energy – together with the implementation of natural climate solutions – is the only way to halt climate change and keep the global temperature rise below 1.5°C, according to another significant study.

German and Greek scientists are working with industrial partners on the technological feasibility of making solar modules based on perovskite absorbers. The prototypes should be freely configurable in size, shape and color.