France

Specializing in the design of custom solar systems, Sunwind Energy will launch the Delta Flore solar PV planter onto the market by the end of the year.

The Valence plant can produce 150 million square centimeters of active surface area of OPV modules using its inkjet printing technology, with the aim of quadrupling its capacity by 2026. Sensitive to natural and artificial light, Dracula’s modules operate indoors from any light source and are intended for use in IoT, industrial electronics and as battery replacements.

The French energy regulator says in a new report that France allocated about 5.55 GW of PV capacity through its auction mechanism for large-scale solar between 2011 and 2013. Despite falling solar module prices, the auction mechanism did not lead to cheaper PV electricity or lower project costs.

KiloWattSol, an independent solar consultancy, says there were 308 hours of negative electricity prices from the start of 2024 to Aug. 23 – more than double the 147 negative hours recorded in 2023.

The French government says the nation installed 1.05 GW of new solar in the second quarter, bringing the country’s cumulative installed PV capacity to 22.2 GW by the end of June.

A 78 kW floating PV plant powered the Paris Olympic Village. It was transported 900 meters along the Seine River to supply renewable electricity for the athletes village.

Transported 900 metres along the Seine, a 78 kW temporary photovoltaic power plant has docked at the Athletes’ Village to meet the needs of the Olympic and Paralympic Place for renewable electricity consumption.

Between August 19 and 30, the ground-mounted PV tenders will accept up to 925 MW of projects, in parallel with the building-mounted PV call for tenders, between August 26 and September 6, which aims for a total capacity of 300 MW. The latter marks the end of the carbon footprint requirements based on life cycle analysis (LCA) in favor of a “country mix” approach.

The French Development Agency has provided a confidential amount of financing for the construction of a ground-mounted solar power plant to be operated by Kenya’s national electricity company, KenGen, at the site of the Seven Forks dams, which together have a combined 600 MW of hydro power capacity.

After the end of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the 15 solar power plants installed by EDF ENR on the roofs of buildings in the athletes’ village will be integrated into a collective self-consumption operation once the future residents of the district have taken possession of the premises.