Western Europe

Spanish developer FRV has agreed to participate in a €100 million effort to generate hydrogen via a 10 MW electrolyzer, powered by a 20 MW solar plant.

Academics have utilized three PCMs, known as RT26, RT35, and RT42, and decided to pack them ascendingly depending on their melting points and heat-flow direction. The system is claimed to allow lower melting rates and longer thermal management of the modules.

The battery manufacturer is planning to raise $2.75 billion through a private placement and to use the funds to expand the capacity of its lithium-ion battery manufacturing site which is currently under construction in Sweden, from 40 GWh to 60 GWh.

pv magazine recently spoke to Asier Ukar, managing director & senior consultant at PI Berlin in Spain, about the Spanish solar market, PV module prices, the most common failures in installations, and PV manufacturing in Europe.

Scientists in Germany have developed a new process for deposition of silicon dioxide layers during cell production. Without the need for high pressure, flammable gases, or vacuum conditions, the process could lead to cost reductions for cell manufacturers, provided it can be developed and applied in a large-scale production setting.

The sticker is based on a blockchain technology developed by German start-up Authentic Network. Meyer Burger uses the application for the photovoltaic modules it produces in its new factory that opened in Freiberg at the end of May.

Energy communities, recognized and supported in Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan, could soon increase their role in the country’s energy transition, Italian research agency ENEA told pv magazine.

Norwegian researchers have used a year-on-year approach, considering the combined effect of temperature, humidity, and ultraviolet irradiation, to assess the degradation rate of polycrystalline modules with a temperature coefficient of -0.43%, mounted with an approximately 10-degree tilt, and located in eastern Norway. They found that these modules degrade in the range in the range of 0.1-0.19% per year, which is 0.4% less than panels operating in other climates.

German manufacturer Robert Bürkle GmbH has obtained a first instance judgement preventing a rival company from producing equipment that infringes on its patents. The decision of the Intermediate Peoples Court in China is not yet final, and the rival company has already filed a complaint against the ruling.

Household heat pumps, EV chargers and rooftop solar panels will be able to earn their owners benefits in return for helping to balance grid networks struggling to accommodate new solar and wind power generation.