Western Europe

With speculation rife UK prime minister Rishi Sunak could call a general election next year, Robert Cathcart, a blogger for English installer Solar Fast, takes a look at just how green the current government is.

Fraunhofer ISE scientists have optimized a technical concept for a hydrogen plant at sea. They claim that their design is “technically and economically viable.”

Dutch scientists have reported higher degradation risk for n-type TOPCon cells with EVA encapsulant due to potential moisture degradation. Front-side metallization makes n-type cells more vulnerable than p-type cells, according to damp heat tests.

Hydrogen and battery technologies are expected to play an increasingly vital role in the UK’s transition to net zero by 2050, but the varying time scales of their rollouts are driving uncertainty in predicted market share profiles over time, according to a new report.

pv magazine speaks to Tim Riedel, who owns a 24 kW residential rooftop PV system and a 12.86 kW air-source heat pump, about the return on investment for air-source heat pumps and the savings households can achieve by pairing them with PV.

Sinn Power and Recom have installed a 1 km-long PV system on a conveyor belt at a German gravel plant, using Sinn Power’s custom aluminum structure for conveyor belt applications.

Carrier, a US-based heating specialist, is set to acquire Germany’s Viessmann Climate Solutions in a €12 billion ($13.27 billion) deal. The acquisition will see Viessmann’s heat pump business fall into the hands of one of the leading market players in the United States, as Carrier looks to expand its reach in the rapidly growing European heat pump market.

German scientists have simulated the seasonal performance of PVT panels in brine-water heat pumps for heating single-family homes. They compared them to air- and ground-source heat pumps with and without PV, and to gas heating systems.

Dutch scientists have used atomic layer deposition to build an organic solar cell with a tin oxide electron transport layer. This improved electron mobility and transparency, resulting in a record fill factor.

A Scandinavian research team has investigated the best set-up for energy islands, to determine whether they are better achieved with submarine cables or hydrogen infrastructure.