Germany

Grid companies LEW Verteilnetz and Bayernwerk have launched a pilot project to feed renewable energy into the electricity network in a more grid-friendly manner. One of the energy storage sites to be used in the project will come from Green Flexibility.

Scientists have used photovoltaic charge lithography to imprint surface charges on passive dielectric substrates by shining a halogen lamp onto iron-doped lithium niobate. The technique may support next-generation microfluidic, biomedical, and chemical applications.

Researchers in Germany have modeled dozens of indirect-expansion solar-assisted heat pump systems using photovoltaic-thermal panels for single-family homes in Munich, Berlin, and Hamburg. Simulations accounted for local weather, electricity use, and thermal demand.

Germany registered 130 hours of negative day-ahead power prices in May, driven by midday solar oversupply, as PV output regularly outpaced demand. The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (Fraunhofer ISE) says prices dipped below €1/($1.14)MWh for 160 hours.

Netherlands based PV module testing equipment supplier Eternal Sun today announced that it has acquired German company Wavelabs, which also supplies flash testing equipment to the solar industry. The acquisition creates a new company, Wavelabs Eternal Sun Gmbh, headquartered in Leipzig, Germany and operating as a 100% subsidiary of Eternal Sun Group. The new owner plans to continue operating the two companies under their respective brand names, with Eternal Sun focused on testing PV modules and Wavelabs on cells.

Larks and other bird species are flourishing in Germany’s solar parks, where breeding success exceeds that of many other habitats. These PV project sites are becoming valuable refuges, benefiting both wildlife and the surrounding environment.

Researchers in Germany have unveiled new high-efficiency, micro concentrator photovoltaics technology that taps established micro-components manufacturing processes to enable lower costs. A demonstrator relying on the micro-CPV module achieved efficiency of 36% based on IEC62670-3 concentrator standard test conditions.

HDF Energy (Hydrogène de France) has signed a tripartite agreement with Indonesia’s PLN and PT SMI to fund €2.3 billion ($2.6 billion) of hydrogen projects, while Thyssenkrupp Nucera says it will conduct a front-end engineering design [FEED] study for a 600 MW hydrogen electrolysis plant in Europe.

A unit of steelmaker Salzgitter AG has launched tenders for a 150 MWp solar power purchase agreement (PPA) and on-site battery energy storage system (BESS) as part of efforts to decarbonize steel production.

The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology and the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems report producing perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells with open-circuit voltages exceeding 1.9 V as the result of a two-step hybrid evaporated/blade-coated process for perovskite films.