Germany

Dutch system operator to fund grid boost to accommodate 2GW of PV, wind
Dutch system operator TenneT has announced that it will invest €215 million (US$237 million) to accommodate 2GW of solar and wind capacity towards the country's north.
Oct 10, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Markets & Finance News, Germany, Europe, Netherlands, Tennet, distribution network, sfieu, lsse, Ben Voorhorst
Lithium dreams: The surreal landscapes where batteries are born
Batteries that power our smartphones need lithium – an increasingly precious resource. Could Bolivia supply the world?
Oct 9, 2019 // Storage, USA, Germany, Chile, South america, Europe, lithium, North America, Bolivia, Salar de Uyuni, Stephen Kesler, Tesla Motors, LITCO, Marco Antonio Limachi, COMIBOL, Evo Morales
‘They created a rechargeable world’
American John B. Goodenough, Brit Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino, from Japan, have received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for developing the lithium-ion battery. A statement from the Royal Academy of Sciences of Sweden said the invention “laid the foundations of a society without wires and fossil fuels, and [they] are of great benefit to humanity”.
Oct 9, 2019 // Technology, Storage, USA, Japan, Lithium-ion batteries, Germany, UK, Europe, Asia, North America, John B. Goodenough, Brit Stanley Whittingham, Akira Yoshino, Nobel Prize
German government wants 98 GW of solar by 2030
The new. more ambitious target is part of a climate protection program Berlin is now defining. The solar sector believes, however, 98 GW will not be enough to ensure the country’s energy transition.
Oct 9, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Germany, Europe, Angela Merkel, Carsten Körnig
Merkel Flip-Flops on Solar, Wind Targets in Climate-Action Plan
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition is wavering on whether to focus on wind or solar power over the next decade to help Germany cut carbon emissions.
Oct 9, 2019 // Solar, Germany, UK, Europe, Angela Merkel, Christoph Zipf, Bruno Burger
SolarEdge takes patent infringement case against Huawei to China
Major PV inverter manufacturer, SolarEdge Technologies is taking its patent infringement case against Huawei Technologies to the Regional Courts of Jinan and Shenzhen in China, after fillings in Germany in June and July 2018.
Oct 8, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Germany, China, pv power plants, Europe, Asia, solaredge technologies, pv inverters, Huawei, Zvi Lando, power optimisers
Huawei facing another three Solaredge lawsuits
Inverter manufacturer Solaredge has filed three additional patent infringement lawsuits against its competitor, Huawei, in China. This comes after three similar legal actions against Huawei that had been undertaken by Solaredge in Germany last summer. While Huawei has decided not to comment on the matter, the Chinese manufacturer revealed that it had filed three patent litigation claims against Solaredge at a Chinese court this May.
Oct 7, 2019 // Manufacturing News, Inverters, Germany, China, Europe, Asia, SolarEdge, Israel, Jabil Circuit (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd.
Northern European states mark clean policy milestones
Northern Europe’s clean energy scene has witnessed a flurry of policy moves in the space of a week, with at least four countries making announcements on various auctions and subsidy schemes.
Oct 2, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Markets & Finance News, Grids, Germany, Europe, auction, Switzerland, Netherlands, subsidies, Denmark, tenders
Danish researchers bring some color to rooftop PV
Scientists led by the Technical University of Denmark have begun a project to design solar cells that can be produced in different colors with minimal effect on performance, making them suitable for building-integrated and other applications with aesthetic considerations.
Oct 1, 2019 // Technology, Rooftop PV, bipv, Germany, Europe, Fraunhofer ISE, rooftop PV, Denmark, Building-integrated photovoltaics, DTU, colored PV modules, Peter Poulsen, Danish Solar Energy Ltd
Germany added 2.72 GW of PV in eight months
In August alone, around 327 MW of new solar generation capacity was registered in the country. This month the FIT for solar systems up to 750 kW in size will fall another 1.4%.
Oct 1, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, FiT, Germany, Europe
First Utility-Scale Floating Solar Power Plant For Germany
Ciel & Terre recently announced the launching of a new utility-scale 750 kWp floating solar array in Renchen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Utilizing more than 2,300 solar panels, it is predicted the solar power plant will generate 736 MWh per year.
Sep 30, 2019 // Floating PV, Germany, floating PV, Europe, Ciel & Terre, Neige BREANT, Vincent Pinchou, Ossola GmbH, Erdgas Südwest
Longi unveils results of bifacial module test
The exercise, conducted on Longi PERC bifacial modules by Germany’s TÜV SÜD at a test field in China, showed surprisingly higher gains in panels getting light reflection from painted-surface and grassland albedo. It also showed, Longi claimed, bifacial panels operate at lower temperatures than single-sided alternatives.
Sep 30, 2019 // Manufacturing News, Germany, China, Europe, Asia, LONGi, TÜV SÜD, PERC bifacial modules
The slow, inexorable rise of green hydrogen
The International Renewable Energy Association says the integration of hydrogen into the energy transition will not happen overnight and electrolysis costs will not be halved until the 2040s. That hydrogen and related products could revolutionize the world energy landscape, however, is not in doubt.
Sep 27, 2019 // Technology, Manufacturing News, Storage, Solar to Fuel, USA, Japan, Canada, Germany, UK, China, Australia, Europe, Asia, IRENA, hydrogen, Oceania, North America, Austria, Solar to Fuel, Solar to Hydrogen, Producing Hydrogen, Hydrogen from renewable, Renewable fuels
Germany ditches solar subsidy cap to hasten clean energy shift
The German government has acted to remove a key hurdle to solar growth, in a deal hammered out as pressure for bold climate policies builds in the country’s streets and legislative chambers.
Sep 23, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Markets & Finance News, Policy, Germany, Europe, subsidy, Angela Merkel, Carsten Körnig, Malu Dreyer, Simone Peter
Climate strike!
As of 11.30 CEST, the global pv magazine team in Berlin will down tools to attend the global climate strike at Brandenburger Tor.
Sep 20, 2019 // Solar, Germany, Europe, SMA, Jenny Chase, Berlin, global climate, strike, Intersolar Europe, Michael Braungart