Rooftop PV

Some see merchant solar as risky, but investors are increasingly snapping up Europe-based merchant PV opportunities for “huge profits,” a researcher from the International Energy Agency Photovoltaic Power Systems Program tells pv magazine.

Many US solar installers are filing for bankruptcy, with stocks falling by 15% to 30% based on weak guidance.

Germany’s Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) says that 919 MW of new PV systems were installed in Germany in September.

Fischer Commercial, a UK-based heat pump supplier, has unveiled new air source heat pumps for residential use. It is making them at its factory in Guadalajara, Spain. It claims that they offer a seasonal coefficient of performance (SCOP) of up to 4.85.

Singapore-based PV module manufacturer REC Group has launched in Australia a new series of rooftop solar panels with power ratings ranging from 450 W to 470 W and efficiencies of up to 22.6%.

South Korea’s Rural Development Administration has created an energy system for greenhouses that combines photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) panels with a ground-source heat pump. It is said to compensate, via the PVT panels, the typical shortcomings of geothermal energy and to be able to reduce heating and cooling costs in greenhouses by up to 78%.

LG Energy Solution will start selling its new enblock S batteries on the US market in November.

Austria has reduced the value-added tax (VAT) on residential PV systems. The new measures apply to all new PV systems up to 35 kW in size, and it will go into force in January.

The 5 kWh battery solution uses Ecoflow’s PV-coupling technology that reportedly ensures an easy connection to existing solar arrays. The new product features an output voltage range of 150-800 V.

Gebrüder Weiss is testing electric trucks with two electric motors and 7.4 kWp of PV output. The modules are installed on the top of the trucks and as mobile extensions.