Germany

A team of scientists at Germany’s Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen Nürnberg has set an efficiency record of 12.25% for a non-fullerene based organic solar cell.

The coalition government has reached agreement on the FIT reduction for rooftop PV not exceeding 750 kW in size. According to a draft bill, seen by pv magazine, the FIT will be reduced to €0.0987/kWh from February, with further cuts in March and April, which would take it down to €0.0890/kWh.

According to a new report by the EEA, the winner of the diesel emissions scandal is the petrol powered car. Governments and the industry have yet to facilitate a serious increase in EV registrations, as their share still languishes at less than 1%.

The Hamburg-based green electricity provider wants to shut down RWE’s coal power plants and replace them with 8.2 GW of wind and solar systems. Approximately €7 billion would be invested in the new facilities, which would be built without any public support. Key to the initiative will be citizen participation.

Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy (ISE) has set a new world record for PV module efficiency. Scientists at the institute achieved 41.4% efficiency for a solar module using both tandem cell and high-concentration PV technology.

With COP24 climate change meeting looming, a German-led e-mobility and renewable energy alliance has signalled it is time for elected members to start delivering on carbon emission reductions before we pass the point of no return.

Two new reports from BloombergNEF recommend that the two northern European countries should implement policies to accelerate the adoption of energy storage and smart electric vehicle charging, while also improving demand response and interconnection to Nordic hydropower reservoirs. All of these actions are expected to further reduce fossil fuel dependence and add flexibility to their respective energy markets.

The research team was able to improve the cell efficiency by 2.1%. The cell silicon layer was etched on the back-side, while a a polymer light management (LM) foil was applied to the front-side of the device.

The German Federal Network Agency has selected 36 solar PV power projects with a combined capacity of 201 MW in the mixed energy auction, which ended with a final average price of €0.0527/kWh.

In March of this year, two unknown men in Haan, Germany, dropped acid on Innogy board member Bernhard Günter. In September, the prosecutor announced the investigation was closed. Innogy, however, hopes to find new clues through the reward.