Western Europe

UK researchers have developed ultra-thin nanoribbons, just 1 atom thick, by combining phosphorus and arsenic alloys. The nanoribbons offer excellent conductivity, even at temperatures exceeding -143.15 C, and have the potential to enhance charge flow in solar cells.

Sunmaxx PVT, a photovoltaic-thermal solar module specialist, has started building an automated 50 MW module factory near Dresden, Germany.

TSE has installed a 2.9 MW agrivoltaics plant in northern France with sensors to trigger an irrigation system. The irrigation setup can reportedly achieve significant water savings. The company is selling the electricity under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA).

Researchers in Sweden investigated the complex non-linear tradeoffs between capacity expansion costs and reliability levels of off-grid PV mini-grids and found that capacity expansion based solely on cost-minimization may result in several reliability issues.

Riello Solartech has developed new hybrid inverters for rooftop PV, designed for commercial and industrial applications The Italian manufacturer says they have a European efficiency rating of roughly 98%.

The two research institutes said the multijunction solar cell is based on silicon, gallium indium phosphide (GaInP) and gallium arsenide (GaAs). The device utilizes a specially designed metal/polymer nanocoating that reportedly optimizes the distribution of light scattering beyond the total internal reflection critical angle in the cell.

The International Energy Agency has warned that lagging policy support, rising costs, and supply chain disruptions threaten the profitability of low-emission hydrogen, while the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has identified hydrogen seeps in South Australia.

Researchers from the Netherlands have assessed the potential integration of heat pumps, electric vehicles, and PV systems into distribution grids. They have discovered that suburban grids could face a higher risk of overload. By using actual data from Dutch distribution grid operators, they believe their methodology could be applied to study energy systems in other nations.

Recent data published by Great Britain’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) show the country’s solar PV cumulative capacity was 15,292.8 MW at the end of July, with newly installed capacity for the first seven months of this year reaching 643 MW. Although Gareth Simkins of Solar Energy UK said these figures were ‘relatively low’, he explained that several utility scale PV plants may have not been included in the statistics so far and there was cause for optimism.

Swedish solar developer Alight says it will enter the Finnish PV market for the first time early next year with a 100 MW ground-mounted solar park in Eurajoki. Alight COO Warren Campbell tells pv magazine that the array will be a ‘big project by Finnish standards.’