Sonnenkraft unveils 400 W TOPCon panel for terracotta red rooftops
Austrian manufacturer Sonnenkraft has developed a terracotta glass-glass module that aesthetically blends in with tiled roofs. It has an efficiency rating of 20.02%.
German initiative to develop scalable sodium-ion batteries
A collaborative project led by German battery supplier Varta aims to develop industrial-scale sodium-ion battery technology. The final product of the three-year, €7.5 million ($8.08 million) project will be a small series of round cells for electric vehicles and stationary storage systems.
European Consortium seeks to streamline agrivoltaics design
A European consortium including Germany’s Fraunhofer ISE is researching suitable crop and PV system combinations, conducting tests under Nordic conditions, and developing software to expedite adoption.
The Hydrogen Stream: EU hydrogen tender ends with bids below €0.50/kg
The European Commission has selected the winners of European Hydrogen Bank’s first auction, with bids coming in below €0.50 ($0.54)/kg, while Chile and Namibia have revealed new hydrogen plans.
New tech to demetallize, recrystallize solar cells from end-of-life PV modules
An international team of researchers has proposed a series of processes to recover silicon and other metals from recycled solar cells. Their goal is to reuse the recovered silicon in the PV supply chain.
Germany records 50 hours of negative electricity prices for April
Average retail prices fell to €6.24 ($6.70)/MWh on the German electricity spot market in April, largely due to renewables covering about 70% of the network load.
TÜV Rheinland certifies organic PV product based on IEC 61215 standard
German certification body TÜV Rheinland has announced the certification of the first organic photovoltaic (OPV) product – an organic PV foil from Germany’s Heliatek – based on the IEC 61215 standard.
New water circulation tech promises lower PERC solar cell manufacturing costs
A German team developed models to illustrate water-saving potential in PERC silicon solar cell manufacturing based on a circular approach and commercially available technology. In the case of a 5 GW fab, water savings of up to 79% and wastewater discharge reductions up to 84% could be achieved, a “significant” improvement compared to a reference scenario.
New metallization tech for HJT solar cells minimizes silver use, increases efficiency
German research institute Fraunhofer ISE has unveiled a new metallization process for heterojunction solar cells that reportedly increases power conversion efficiencies by over 0.1% while reducing silver consumption. A device built with the new technique achieved an efficiency of 23.2%.
Germany awards 2.23 GW in PV tender, with lowest bid of €0.0362/kWh
The German authorities have granted 2.23 GW in a utility-scale solar tender, with bids ranging from €0.0362 ($0.039)/kWh to €0.0549/kWh, oversubscribed to 4.1 GW.
