Western Europe

Scientists in the Netherlands have identified five different profiles of homeowners that have installed or could install rooftop PV systems. According to their findings, substantial differences characterize the five segmentation groups. The research is intended to help policymakers and solar companies to better promote PV technology among potential new adopters.

The Portuguese utility also wants to close all its coal power plants by 2025.

Through the operation, Shell wants to consolidate its position in the virtual power plant market.

The mini panel has a surface of 10 cm². It was built with a manufacturing technique that is claimed to be compatible with the integration of perovskite into heterojunction silicon solar cells in tandem architecture.

The central European country had its best year in terms of new PV deployment in 2020 with around 1,010 MW of installed capacity. Its cumulative solar capacity surpassed 6 GW at the end of December.

Solar pioneer Thierry Lepercq spoke with pv magazine about recent plans of the HyDeal consortium to deploy 95 GW of solar and 67 GW of hydrogen capacity in southern Europe by 2030. Record low green hydrogen prices are easily achievable as solar PV has already reached the required cost level and effects of scale in procurement and manufacturing of electrolyzer capacities will help reduce production costs, he says. Lepercq is also convinced that the consortium will begin selling solar-powered hydrogen at €1.5/kg when the initial supply to industrial customers begins in September 2022.

The Amsterdam-based, Australia and central Europe-facing developer saw sales slump thanks to Covid-19 last year but has touted a growing operational project portfolio.

According to German scientists, the quality of the photoluminescence quantum yield of the perovskite layers can be reliably and precisely determined for the first time. It shows that the promising material has more potential for optimization than previously assumed.

As the ongoing changes in Italian politics inevitably create some uncertainties, PV operators continue to organize themselves, pulling together to put forward their agenda. pv magazine spoke with Andrea Cristini, spokesperson of new industry body Alleanza per il fotovoltaico in Italia, a group of 25 operators which in December joined forces to promote utility scale solar parks.

According to new guidelines by Germany’s Fraunhofer ISE, agrivoltaic projects are already competitive with other renewable energy sources today. The lack of a proper regulatory framework, however, is currently preventing the dual use of arable land for food production and power generation from becoming a mainstream solution.