Europe

Meyer Burger’s new chairman has acknowledged that the outlook remains tense for Europe’s largest solar equipment supplier, but he is urging shareholders to support the company’s plan to reposition itself to focus on high-yield technologies and markets beyond China.

Solibro will probably file for insolvency this month, according to German media reports. However, the company has yet to publicly confirm the matter.

One of Europe’s leading utility-scale solar investors has said that the continent’s subsidy-free solar market has “developed rapidly” in recent months.

Engie has raised eyebrows with the installation of several solar benches in Biarritz, southwestern France, as a local official has asked citizens to avoid sitting on them for long periods of time in order to keep their energy yield up. But the authorities over in Cannes are clearly impressed, as the municipal government in the French Riviera resort town has also revealed plans to buy more of the PV benches, which are designed by Croatian startup Include.

The 20 MW plant will feature 62,750 solar panels. Installer Perpetum Energy plans to commission the project in the spring of 2020.

This week on The Energy Gang: The economics of oil are beginning to be challenged by EVs paired with wind and solar.

While China is single-handedly reducing CAPEX for modules and inverters, Europe understands that hardware won’t be the holy grail – generally speaking. But what is? Perhaps it is time for a new strategy to surf in front of the digital wave.

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.

Energy of Cameroon wants to build two solar parks to improve power supply in the country’s northern regions. The projects will be developed by a consortium led by Norwegian solar company Scatec.

Following up on the webinar held with Trina Solar about the new algorithms needed for bifacial and tracking installations, the word is that gains of 20-30% are not unlikely. To attain that, however, the sweet spot of front and rear side yield has to be reached. Trina has showcased a new algorithm alongside its bifacial n-type modules and claims it can do just that.

A report produced by an AI and automation market research company says an anticipated boom in the European storage market – driven by a desire to reduce carbon emissions – will attract producers as demand outside China tails away.

The Lone Star State accounted for almost half of the activity witnessed in the world’s biggest corporate clean energy marketplace but analysts are excited about the prospect of Beijing mandating companies to purchase minimum levels of green electricity.

Vattenfall has added its name to the swelling list of proponents of solar-plus-wind-plus-storage, unveiling plans for its first ever triple hybrid.

Neoen has shed light on its winning project in Portugal’s head-turning solar auction this summer, a tender consultants now say illustrates a new, bolder attitude towards merchant risks.

Scientists at the Australia National University have observed a key stage in the process of photosynthesis which could be copied to greatly increase the efficiency of sunlight-powered water splitting processes used to produce hydrogen.