Dutch heating specialist unveils residential thermal battery
Newton Energy Solutions claims its new thermal storage system is ideal for houses equipped with solar panels and either heat pumps or gas boilers. The battery has an energy storage capacity of 20 kWh to 29 kWh.
Solar bike paths go online in Netherlands
Two new PV bike-path projects are now operating in the Netherlands under an initiative launched in 2018 by Rijkswaterstaat, the Dutch water management agency.
White hydrogen project sparks interest in France
Philippe de Donato and Jacques Pironon, researchers at a French laboratory, are actively searching for white hydrogen in collaboration with gas company Française De l’Énergie. Pironon told pv magazine that they plan to continue exploration next year to confirm their thesis that deeper digging yields more hydrogen.
Dutch government unveils solar deployment database
The Dutch government’s new open-access PV database is divided by municipality and region. It offers a complete overview of all available spaces for rooftop PV and solar carports across the Netherlands.
Lightweight PV system solution for commercial buildings with limited load-bearing capacity
Dutch solar PV manufacturer Solarge is deploying a novel lightweight rooftop solution across several commercial buildings in the Netherlands. Instead of glass, the special modules developed by the company use strong and light polymers, which the company said result in a module weight per square meter of 5.5 kg.
Reconfigurable series-parallel photovoltaic modules with high shading tolerance
TU Deflt researchers made a first attempt to validate reconfigurable solar modules using prototypes in outdoor tests. The panels consist of two or more blocks of solar cells that are connected to a switching matrix and reportedly achieve a 10.2% higher energy yield than conventional shade-resilient modules under partial shading conditions.
The Hydrogen Stream: Masdar signs more hydrogen deals at COP28
Masdar unveiled a 10 GW Africa Growth Plan for renewable investments in six Sub-Saharan Nations at COP28 in Dubai this week, in addition to signing four additional hydrogen deals.
Statkraft looks into long-duration energy storage based on saltwater
Statkraft, a Norwegian energy company, is investigating the scalability and commercial viability of Aquabattery’s technology. It will finance a pilot project for between six and 12 months in the Netherlands.
New model to predict defrost cycles, behavior of air-sourced heat pumps in cold weather
UK-based researchers have developed a novel method to estimate the amount of defrost cycles a heat pump will experience in the winter and how much energy it would require to implement the cycles. The results of their simulation showed a strong relationship between the number of defrost cycles and the ambient temperature.
Casting the net for solar recruits
Solar-industry companies need to forget ideas about office-based roles and look far afield to source the recruits necessary for the energy transition – and then they need to keep them loyal by offering a rewarding career.
