Germany

The tender concluded with a final average price of €0.0519/kWh, which is slightly higher than the €0.050 reached in the previous procurement exercise of the same kind. Bids ranged from €0.0405 to €0.055/kWh.

Bosch’s new solid oxide fuel cell prototype has an electrical efficiency of more than 60% and an overall efficiency above 85%. It also has a targeted power output of 10 kW and can produce up to 3 kW of thermal energy.

Ikea’s holding company, INGKA Holding, will invest €340 million ($371 million) to acquire nine PV systems from Enerparc. In the future, Ikea said it will work with Svea Solar to sell residential PV systems.

Germany has come up with new measures that could lead to a cumulative installed PV capacity of 215GW by 2030. Higher feed-in tariffs for rooftop PV will likely be announced soon.

SMA is offering a new line of four inverters with power ratings of 12kW, 15kW, 20kW and 25kW, for use in rooftop PV systems up to 135kW in size. It claims the inverters provide grid-compliant power control of entire systems and enable over-dimensioning of PV arrays by up to 150%.

Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin has unveiled new technology to improve thin metal oxide films for solar water splitting, and the European Energy Exchange has announced plans for a new hydrogen index. Indian Oil, Larsen & Toubro, and ReNew have agreed to set up a joint venture to develop India’s green hydrogen sector. And Iberdrola has revealed a plan to produce industrial green hydrogen, in cooperation with the European Investment Bank.

Germany’s Ostermeier H2ydrogen Solutions has developed an electrolyzer that works with tap water, with bottles to store hydrogen and a fuel cell or a Wankel engine to produce electricity. The system has a capacity ranging from 1kW to 100 kW, which corresponds to hydrogen production of 0.2-20 Nm3/h.  

Research activities on hydrogen are in full swing at Penn State University, University of Aberdeen, Brunel University London, Loughborough University and Cardiff University. This week marks a systemic shift towards hydrogen in research, production, sale and consumption.

This week saw more than 300 scientists and PV experts converge in Konstanz, Germany for discussion of the latest development in PV cell technology, and for many the first chance for a face-to-face meeting in quite some time. pv magazine reports from the SiliconPV conference, where the PV research community revealed a strong focus on eliminating or optimizing the use of critical materials like silver and indium from cell production, alongside a wealth of improvements in efficiency and longevity that is still possible for silicon PV technology.

The municipal bus fleet in Munich, Germany, will soon be equipped with solar-powered trailer units.