‘The technology and the capital are available, but the market simply lacks execution capacity’
1Komma5° has acquired a majority stake in Swedish solar installation provider Cellsolar AB. This is the sixth acquisition of the recently founded Cleantech startup which wants to open the installation sector for the capital market in order to allow rapid growth.
Norway increases support for residential PV
Norway’s clean energy agency Enova will increase the maximum PV system size eligible for rebates from 15 to 20 kW and the maximum subsidy amount from 1,250 to 2,000 NOK ($226.7) per kW installed. In addition, new subsidies of up to 10,000 NOK will be introduced for energy management systems that are often installed alongside solar arrays.
Portugal installed 701 MW of solar in 2021
The country’s cumulative PV capacity reached 1.77 GW at the end of December.
France publishes first-quarter FITs for PV systems up to 500 kW
The feed-in tariff granted will still be reduced each quarter, in line with how much solar capacity was installed in the previous three-month period, but to a lower extent.
Zinc-bromide batteries to store solar power at Acciona’s testing field in Spain
Gelion’s Endure battery will undergo commercial tests at the 1.2 MW Montes del Cierzo testing field that the Spanish renewable energy company operates in Navarra.
The Hydrogen Stream: Novel fuel cell tech based on liquid-organic hydrogen carrier
Germany’s Schaeffler is developing a hydrogen fuel cell that runs on a liquid organic hydrogen carrier, and Australia’s H2X Global has formed a joint venture with Indian automotive components manufacturer Advik Hi-Tech to manufacture hydrogen fuel cells, generators and vehicles.
Portuguese solar plants – tendered and merchant – remain in limbo
One of the first items in the in-tray of the country’s new Socialist Party government must be to unblock Portugal’s seemingly huge appetite for PPA-backed merchant solar sites and to deliver the PV projects which were tendered by the authorities, to global acclaim, in 2019 and 2020.
Germany deployed 5.26 GW of solar in 2021
The country saw around 421 MW of new PV capacity come online in December alone. Its cumulative solar power reached 56.3 GW.
FuturaSun launches rooftop solar module with 390-410 W output
The new product measures 1754x1098x30 mm and weighs in at 21 kg. It features a temperature coefficient of -0.35% per degree Celsius and a power conversion efficiency of up to 21.29%.
Vanadium redox flow battery to control extreme power ramps in rooftop PV
Researchers in Portugal have tested how vanadium redox flow batteries can be integrated with rooftop PV to balance the system load to ensure firm power output. They proposed a 5 kW/60 kWh battery configuration for a 6.7 kW building-integrated PV microgrid. According to their findings, the battery can be used in different energy management strategy scenarios to better complement solar photovoltaic generation.
