Western Europe

High throughput and high precision can help reduce solar cell production costs. A research group at Fraunhofer ISE has made progress with a laser system to process wafers for metallization. The system reportedly works 10 to 20 times faster.

ISC Konstanz researchers say their new n-type tunnel back contact (TBC) solar cell features polycrystalline silicon TOPCon contacts on both polarities. The results still need to be confirmed by an independent third party.

Germany deployed around 1.18 GW of new PV systems in November and could potentially install more than 14 GW of PV capacity this year, according to new statistics from the national network operator.

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.

Switzerland will likely reach about 6.2 GW of cumulative installed PV capacity by the end of this year, according to new figures released by Swissolar, the nation’s PV association.

Two workers have died in separate accidents at Northvolt’s battery gigafactory in Sweden in recent weeks, with a technician succumbing to burns after an explosion on a production line and a construction worker killed by a falling fork stand. pv magazine has learned that the equipment that caught fire was not a part of the battery manufacturing process.

Belgian PV product distributor Ecostal has acquired Project Zero, a business-to-business specialist in Flanders, Belgium. It did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.

A Spanish research team aims to bring concentrating photovoltaics closer to commercial viability by miniaturizing its components. The scientists claim that smaller CPV cells may reduce production costs and enable better CPV module assembly.

A team of scientists at Germany’s Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen Nürnberg has set an efficiency record of 14.46% for an organic PV module. The performance was certified by Germany’s Fraunhofer Institue for Solar Energy’s PV calibration laboratory (CalLab).

British renewable energy company Octopus Energy Group announced it would use a recent $800 million investment to “drive real scale” of heat pump manufacture and installation, and create 3,000 new jobs.