Germany

The German specialist for solar thermal energy and heat storage said its new PVT collectors rely on double-glass and monocrystalline TOPCon cells. The product has a power conversion efficiency of 22.5% and a maximal thermal ouput of 1,100 W.

The European Solar Manufacturing Council (ESMC) has criticized Borussia Dortmund’s decision to install 11,000 JA Solar panels on its stadium roof, citing the supplier’s exclusion from the US market over alleged links to forced labor. JA Solar responded to these accusations stating that SolarPower Europe’s Solar Stewardship Initiative (SSI) previously investigated its supply chain and found that it didn’t violate the SSI Principles

German scientists believe that power generation for future habitats on the moon could be achieved by manufacturing halide perovskite cells locally, using regolith-based moonglass.

Solar curtailment increased by 97% in Germany last year, driven by rapid growth in PV deployment and unusually high solar radiation in the summer, according to the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur).

With regulator the Federal Network Agency requiring grid companies to tender for the provision of the reactive power needed to maintain network voltage, electricity transmission system operator (TSO) 50Hertz has stolen a lead on its rivals.

Westwood Global Energy Group says just 17% of the European Union’s hydrogen projects will advance without intervention, while Smartenergy says Spain’s Orange.bat project has cleared a key environmental hurdle and will launch in May 2028.

Energy Island Power, a German startup, has developed a connection kit that allows electric vehicle owners to use their car’s power to support home energy needs by integrating with the solar inverter and the home grid.

Trafigura says it has scrapped plans for a $471.2 million green hydrogen plant in Australia after a feasibility study, while Aurora Energy Research says Germany, Spain, Sweden, and Great Britain could drive over 50% of renewable energy demand by 2035, requiring €100 billion in investment.

Startup p&e power&energy is offering multilevel inverter technology to manufacturers and integrators of battery energy storage systems (BESS). Interconnecting individual cells enables cost savings and the service life and efficiency of the systems, which can be individually configured for each application, can be increased.

Borussia Dortmund, a German soccer team, is partnering with JA Solar and RWE to install a 4.2 MW solar system with battery storage at its stadium, supplying 4 MWh for on-site consumption. A smaller PV installation is already in operation on the stadium roof.