Europe

The managing director of London-based energy infrastructure company Statera has told pv magazine a clean energy grid in the U.K. will require as much flexible gas plant capacity as battery storage.

Another large scale transaction by the electricity and gas supplier has enhanced its standing in the U.K. energy market, with the business now counting more than one million customers.

New analysis predicts more than 150 GW of tracker capacity will be installed in the next five years – around a third of all ground mount projects up to 2024. Rapid growth in Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and the better cost structures possible from combining trackers and bifacial modules are singled out as key trends.

With the benefits solar panels can bring to cropland being considered in Europe, PV and aquaculture are working in tandem in Vietnam. Shrimp and fish farming requires land and lots of water but solar panels are helping mitigate those demands.

While based in Munich in Germany’s south, renewable asset management software provider 3megawatt’s first major clients were in the United States. However, as the European markets have transitioned beyond feed-in tariffs to the complexity of subsidy-free solar and wind arrays, the understanding of the need for asset management tools is rapidly increasing, says 3megawatt founder and CEO Edmee Kelsey.

Two sponsors of one of Spain’s iconic subsidy-free plants have sealed a deal to deploy a smaller successor in the same area, planned again without support from government money.

BBOXX has successfully closed a US$50 million Series D funding round that will see the next generation utility company accelerate its global expansion efforts.

‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) member, JA Solar has supplied 33.1MW of mono-PERC panels to Ukraine-based project developer, UDP Renewables for the Scythia-Solar-2 PV power plant in the Zaporizhia region of the country.

Hamburg-based companies Thüga Erneuerbare Energien GmbH (THEE) and the CEE Group have signed off on a memorandum of understanding that will see both entities jointly operate large-scale photovoltaic plants in Germany without subsidies.

SolarEdge Technologies’ founder and former long-time CEO Guy Sella has passed away two years after revealing a colon cancer diagnosis, the firm has confirmed.

A European consortium of partners has developed an easy-to-clean solar panel coating that repels environmental forces. SolarSharc was created by the Advanced Resins and Coatings Innovation Centre (a strategic partnership between London South Bank University and TWI), Opus Materials Technologies, Onyx Solar, CEA – LITEN, Millidyne and TWI.

The Boys & Girls Club of Manchester has transitioned to solar energy. ReVision Energy installed 408 solar panels this summer on three rooftops, at the Union Street Clubhouse (81.3 kW) in Manchester, New Hampshire, and the Pool House and Stebbins Family Hall buildings at Camp Foster in Bedford (49.3 kW).

Walburga Hemetsberger joined SolarPower Europe as its new CEO around six months ago. It’s been a busy time, with the European elections and attempts to implement net zero emissions strategies that have kept Brussels hustling and bustling. At the same time, Europe’s solar industry association has been trying to push its industrial policy and rooftop campaign. Hemetsberger sat down with pv magazine for an update.

X-ray analysis is said to have solved the mystery of how to preserve optical absorption in perovskite layers. Researchers say the discovery could help stabilize the material and speed up the launch of a new ingredient for PV research.

The performance of the company’s Selectively Coated Ribbons was measured for more than a year in a field test. Heraeus says the yield gains are achieved by the device’s optical properties – said to enable improved reflection – even at low angles of incidence and in low-light conditions.