EDF acquires US solar installer
EDF Renewables North America said that its latest investment capitalizes on the growth of the commercial and industrial solar market.
Axitec launches modular residential battery
The battery has a storage capacity ranging from 10 to 15 kWh and is already commercially available in Germany and Europe.
Ireland outlines net metering scheme for solar and renewables
The scheme is now under public consultation and is aimed at enabling citizens, farmers, business owners, and community organizations to sell excess solar power to the grid.
Smart meters disrupt residential PV segment in Belgium’s Flanders region
A recent ruling of the Belgian constitutional court has canceled the 15-year grace period granted to residential PV system owners to keep operating under net metering despite the arrival of smart meters. The Flemish government said it will provide some compensation for the financial losses that this decision will cause.
Fraunhofer ISE develops technique to produce glowing colored solar modules
The German research institute has proposed a technique based on the surface structure of the wings of the morpho butterfly to produce colored BIPV panels for facades and rooftops. The process is claimed to make it possible to color the modules with an optical effect and not with color pigments, which reduce their efficiency.
‘There is no clear best module configuration under partial shading’
A Slovenian research team has analyzed the behavior of a full-size cell PV module and several 1/6 cell panels under partial shading and has come to the obvious conclusion that the cell cut panels suffer fewer energy losses. They also found, however, that the orientation of the cells connected in series should be aligned as much as possible with the shade shape to lower the losses and to minimize reverse cell voltage.
Belgium deployed 900 MW of PV in 2020
Renewable energy production increased by 31% and now represents 18.6% of the country’s electricity mix. Its cumulative PV capacity increased from 3,887 MW at the end of 2019 to 4,788 MW at the end of December.
Australian Vanadium pushes ahead with plans for residential flow battery
Australian Vanadium is pushing ahead with plans to develop a vanadium redox flow battery for the Australian residential market, via its VSUN Energy subsidiary.
Eon enters UK rooftop PV business
The German energy company has acquired a 49% stake in U.K. installer Eco2solar. The British company offers solutions for commercial and residential projects.
Brazil may add 9 GW of distributed solar over next two years
Brazil may see the deployment of 4 GW of new distributed generation solar capacity this year and another 5 GW next year, according to Aldo Pereira Teixeira, the CEO of Brazil’s largest PV product distributor and system integrator. In an interview with pv magazine, he explains why and how this huge growth could materialize.
