Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy

German municipal utility Westfalen Weser is looking to develop a 120 MW/280 MWh battery storage facility at the site of a former nuclear power plant in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Scientists at Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute ISE and a consortium of heat pump manufacturers have achieved a new efficiency record in their development of a low-refrigerant propane refrigeration circuit. The device has a heating capacity of 12.8 kW with only 124 grams of propane, amounting to a refrigerant charge of approximately 10g/kW, compared to 60g/kW for commercially available devices.

New outdoor tests conducted at Saudi research center King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) have shown that an increase in temperature affects the performance of a tandem perovskite/silicon solar cell not only because of voltage losses but also because of current mismatch between the two sub-cells.

Scientists at Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) have used intense pulsed light (IPL) processing for the development of a busbarless silicon heterojunction solar cell. ILP processing is roll-to-roll technique for rapid thermal processing of various thin films.

The VDMA says Europe can restart a solar production sector that can compete on price with Chinese imports by reducing transport costs – provided a Euro supply chain can be established.