Europe

An African Development Bank (AfDB) initiative that wants to install 10GW of solar energy across the Sahel by 2025 was endorsed by G5 Sahel heads of state at a summit held last week in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

Spain’s subsidy-free solar scene has marked another boost after a power purchase agreement (PPA) was secured for a major project in the country’s centre-west.

German power major RWE has reiterated its commitment to becoming one of the world’s largest developers of solar, wind and energy storage after the European Commission green-lit its proposed asset swap with E.On.

Solar power is already taking over the land, so naturally, now it's coming for the sea. The big ol' boat in the photo above is the Silent 55 ship from Silent Yachts, a luxury solar panel boat company based in Austria. It uses silent electric propulsion to achieve unlimited range without noise, fumes, or any maintenance at all.

Credibility comes not just from offering products that generate clean electricity, but also from the way in which those products are manufactured, says SMA Solar Technology CEO Jürgen Reinert. Here, transparency and sustainability are key. That’s why one of the world’s largest PV inverter producers has partnered with pv magazine’s UP sustainability initiative. In the following Q&A, Reinert lays out what SMA is doing to step UP its green game.

Tennet needs more than €4.75 billion to invest in cross-border grid infrastructure between Germany and the Netherlands, as rising volumes of solar and wind are complicating network operations, said Dutch Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra in a recent letter to the Dutch parliament, adding that the government may need to privatize the state-owned transmission system operator or sell off a stake in it.

Germany must embrace renewables and energy storage at an unprecedented scale if it hopes to offset the void left behind by coal and nuclear phase-outs, a new study has said.

Greece has opted to slightly trim the capacity on offer at the year’s last solar-only tender, setting ceiling prices that reflect the gradual technology cost decreases seen in the country.

The nation’s energy regulator today announced separate tenders for solar and wind generation capacity will be held on December 12.

EuPD Research has calculated what needs to be done to replace the nuclear and coal generation to be phased out in Germany. Accelerated expansion of PV appears the best short-term option. However, storage capacity will need to increase 30-fold by 2040 so solar can become the main pillar of the country’s energy system.

Carbon clusters of a few nanometers in size could be responsible for the defects affecting the thermal stability of SiCs. The defective carbon accumulations arise during the oxidation of silicon carbide to silicon dioxide under high temperatures

This week, pv magazine headed to Marseille for the 36th edition of the EU PVSEC conference and exhibition. During the week-long show, leading universities and research institutes presented their latest results to the industry and public. As the conference heads into its final afternoon, we’ve put together five key takeaways from this year’s event.

The Munich-based chemical company has taken a substantial minority share in the British materials specialist to expand its silicon-based high-performance battery activity. The value of the transaction was not disclosed.

The Essent business of German utility RWE wants to widen its clean energy offer for Belgian clients. Last year Aralt achieved a €5 million turnover.

Researchers at the University of Warwick in the U.K. have made a discovery that could lead to new designs for organic PV devices. Their findings could open up a new range of materials for the electrode layer and bring low cost, flexible organic PV devices a step closer commercial reality, say the academics.