Historical court ruling for agrivoltaics in Italy
The Regional Court of Apulia in Italy has ruled that the regional authorities must not deny permits to solar projects on agricultural land without considering how they combine electricity generation with crop cultivation and the raising of livestock. pv magazine spoke to Emilio Sani from law firm Sani Zangrando about the ruling’s potential consequences.
Conflicting authorities could delay planning, environmental permits for solar in France
Municipal, regional and national authorities in France often have different views on permits for the deployment of solar. Marie Buchet, head of solar power at Syndicat des énergies renouvelables, spoke to pv magazine about four case studies. She said one-stop shops to unify all authorization processes could be the solution, as suggested by the European Union.
Up to 3 years needed to develop PV projects in Germany
Approvals and planning procedures for solar parks are a major bottleneck for the energy transition. pv magazine recently spoke with a project developer about constraints and opportunities in Germany, ahead of the pv magazine Roundtables on June 28.
Perovskite solar cells based on down-conversion materials
An international research group has assessed the potential of down-conversion materials to overcome the poor blue response of solar cells. They analyzed how such materials could be used to improve the performance of perovskite-based devices and found that certain advances might be achieved.
The Hydrogen Stream: Viritech, Pininfarina unveil world’s first ‘hydrogen hypercar’
Viritech and Pininfarina have announced plans to put a hydrogen-fueled car into limited production in 2023, while H2 Clipper said it aims to finish a prototype of its hydrogen-powered airship by 2025.
Novel floating PV system design from Norway
Norwegian scientists have tested a new floating PV system concept at a water reservoir in Sri Lanka. The system is made of composite beams to support the solar panels and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes to provide buoyancy.
Debunking myths about PV system orientation, dimensioning
New research from LUT University shows that there is no single correct orientation for a PV installation.
Hinduja Group invests in UK second-life battery storage specialist
India’s Hinduja Group has invested GBP 15 million ($18.4 million) with four other investors in Connected Energy, a developer of energy storage systems based on second-life electric vehicle batteries.
Solar module for lightweight applications from France
French manufacturer 2CA has developed a 20%-efficient solar module that weighs four times less than a glass-glass module of the same size. It claims the frameless, self-supporting panel could be used for lightweight applications at military camps and other remote locations.
Automatically generated databases for perovskite, dye-sensitized solar cells
University of Cambridge scientists have created new databases for dye-sensitized and perovskite cells, respectively. They used the ChemDataExtractor text-mining toolkit to collect the data.
