Western Europe

Qcells has acquired full ownership of intellectual property rights for LECO technology with the recent acquisition of Cell Engineering. The technology is known to enhance the efficiency of PERC and TOPCon solar cells.

Salins group, the leading salt producer in France, has joined forces with Compagnie Nationale du Rhône and its subsidiary, Vensolair, to build 100 MW of solar on unused salt marshes in southern France. The two companies say they might also build experimental projects on operational salt production sites.

The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) has developed a recycling process for end-of-life PV modules, recovering silicon and silver, using supercritical CO2. Virginie Basini, head of CEA’s sustainable technologies department, discussed the technique with pv magazine France.

ENEA and Enel have developed an ‘algovoltaic’ system to cultivate high-value microalgae, ranging from €100 ($106.19)/kg to €600/kg for pharmaceutical uses or cosmetic purposes. This is possible due to the integration of a fully automated cultivation system with a 7 kW solar array.

Europe awakened to its energy dependency on Russian gas as the Russia-Ukraine conflict unfolded and the war has pushed the European Union to accelerate its energy transition. Italy could play an important role.

Roughly €380 million ($403 million) has been earmarked for spending in Ireland’s residential and community grant upgrade schemes, which includes solar PV installations, according to the Irish government’s 2024 Budget. The head of the local energy association, however, cautions to pv magazine that the new budget may not be ‘quite so generous’ as it first appears.

Scientists in Spain tested PV modules under partial shading conditions, aiming to better understand the formation of performance-damaging hotspots. The study reveals a potential issue particularly affecting half-cell and bifacial modules, which may cause accelerated performance loss and is not covered by current testing/certification standards.

A team of Dutch university students under the banner Top Dutch Solar Racing has installed perovskite silicon tandem cells in its entry in the 16th edition of Bridgestone World Solar Challenge. The upcoming race is a six day, 3000 km expedition across the Australian continent, from Darwin to Adelaide.

Northvolt says it will use a circular economy approach to achieve 60 GW/h of annual cell production in Quebec, Canada, with a focus on assembling batteries for the US automotive market.

Italy and Greece have announced plans for a 1 GW subsea interconnection cable. The submarine cable, valued at €750 million ($794.9 million), will connect a new converter station in Galatina, Italy, with a station in Thesprotia, Greece.