Rooftop PV

French state-owned railway operator SNCF plans to install 1.1 million square meters of solar modules at its train stations by 2030. Developers interested in its new solar carport tender have until April 15 to submit their project proposals.

Operated by UK start-up Power Roll, the pilot factory will reach a capacity of 30 MW by year end. The manufacturer uses low-cost roll-to-roll manufacturing processes and patented microgroove patterns to produce flexible solar panels intended for applications on warehouses and agricultural sheds whose roofs are not strong enough for conventional arrays as well as in vehicle-integrated photovoltaics.

A recent report from HTW Berlin and Verbraucherzentrale NRW reveals that, between 2020 and 2021 alone, around 128.000 new plug-in solar arrays, totaling 51MW of generation capacity, were installed in Germany.

Scientists in Australia have developed an optimization framework for building-integrated photovoltaics that allows the selection of design variables according to user preferences. Their model considers PV-related features such as tilt angle, window-to-wall ratio (WWR), PV placement, and PV product type, as well as objective functions and constraints such as the net present value and the payback period.

Madagascar-based Filatex has invested €10 million in French flywheel storage system manufacturer Energiestro. The two companies are planning to deploy Energiestro’s flywheel storage solutions across Madagascar and Mauritius

The Japanese government is proposing 20-year FITs lower than $0.010/kWh for rooftop PV and a ceiling price of $0.087/kWh for solar energy auctions. These incentive levels will likely be insufficient to stimulate demand given rising solar project costs.

The closing of the Alabama-based facility comes in tandem with the announcement that LG will be folding its solar module business by the end of June.

HyET Solar and the Delft University of Technology are developing a photovoltaic foil technology that is claimed to be suitable for any type of surface. The solar foil has a 12.0% conversion efficiency and is based on hydrogenated amorphous silicon and nanocrystalline silicon in a tandem cell configuration.

The Korean manufacturer said its solar module business will be closed by the end of June. It blamed uncertainties in the global solar industry for its decision.

French start-up Solar Cloth is planning to scale up capacity at its module production facility near Cannes. The factory will produce 17.6%-efficient flexible solar modules integrated into textile supports.