Western Europe

Finland’s Wärtsilä has unveiled its next-generation grid balancing technology. It has an efficiency of 52.3% and can be used for baseload production. It connects to the grid in 30 seconds and operates on natural gas, biogas, or hydrogen blends.

UK scientists have developed a solar cell based on a layer of gallium-arsenide just 80 nanometers thick, with similar performance to much thicker devices. It showed excellent resistance to damage from radiation exposure, making it ideal for high-radiation satellite/space applications.

The SisAl Pilot project produces solar-grade silicon from Spanish quartz without using coal and with zero CO2 emissions. The company behind the project claims that the process is cheaper and more sustainable.

The Portuguese Fusion Fuel and Ballard Power have announced the successful commissioning of the H2Évora plant on Portugal The grid-connected pilot project will produce an estimated 15 tons of green hydrogen per year.

French startup Unéole has developed a rooftop system that combines solar and silent wind turbines. It claims its system can produce 40% more energy than standalone rooftop solar arrays. It is now testing the device, with plans to commercialize it by 2023.

French scientists have studied the fabrication of silicon heterojunction cells with p-type wafers. With the adoption of gallium doping, the p-type products could come close to matching the performance of their n-type counterparts. But optimal doping levels will be key to advancing this tech, said the researchers.

The Max Planck Institute for Medical Research has produced batene fleece, a fine metal fleece, to act as current collectors in batteries, making them safer and more energy dense. Its Batene GmbH spinoff, backed by €10 million ($10.02 million) of seed funding, is now bringing the tech to market.

KU Leuven researchers have developed rooftop panels that capture both solar power and water from the air. Like traditional PV modules, hydrogen panels are also connected, but via gas tubes instead of electric cables. The researchers are now preparing to bring the tech to the mass market via a spinoff company.

A new white paper by testing equipment specialist Wavelabs outlines key challenges that the solar industry will face when it comes to testing and characterizing perovskite-silicon tandem cells in manufacturing environments.

Stäubli, a Swiss electrical connector manufacturer, has unveiled a new branch connector with both UL and IEC certification.