Germany

It took eight years of field measurements for researchers at the RWTH Aachen University in Germany to estimate the usable capacity of home battery energy storage systems and develop a dataset covering 106 system years and 14 billion datapoints. Their key finding was that home battery systems lose about two to three percentage points of usable capacity per year on average, meaning good news for the industry as most warranties in the market can be met with the implementation of capacity reserves.

Paxos Solar has developed a new glass-glass PV tile that integrates with heat pumps, featuring Longi’s back-contact solar cells. The 44 W, 59.5 cm x 48 cm tile can also produce heat for residential systems.

Investment confidence in Australia’s green hydrogen industry has received a $660 million boost following a joint declaration with Germany to negotiate supply chains that guarantee European buyers for Australian products.

Australian battery anode and advanced materials company Talga has struck a deal with German multimetals producer and recycler Aurubis AG to develop a recycled graphite anode product from materials sourced from used lithium-ion batteries.

A German research team is conducting practical tests to see how solar modules with integrated radio technology can be linked to form an overall network. The “communicative” panels should represent a simple and cost-effective solution for monitoring and controlling small-scale photovoltaic systems.

Thermal solar company Vast Renewables and German-headquartered energy company Mabanaft have further cemented their partnership with a joint development agreement to advance Vast’s CSP-powered green methanol reference plant, Solar Methanol 1.

Australia’s first eight-hour battery energy storage system is set to go ahead with German energy major RWE announcing it has taken the investment decision and signed key contracts for the Limondale battery project being developed in southwest New South Wales.

German investment firm Hansainvest Real Assets has switched on Europe’s largest solar plant – a 605 MW installation in Germany’s Saxony region. The project spans 500 hectares and operates under a power purchase agreement th Shell Energy Europe.

German solar technology developer and retailer 1komma5° has continued to strengthen its presence in the Australian market with the acquisition of Queensland-based Arkana Energy Group.

Around 800,000 new workers will be required in Europe by 2025 for the battery industry alone and, more broadly, existing workers will need to be retrained as the continent’s industries transition away from fossil fuels. International competition for workers is becoming increasingly fierce. Where are these workers and the required skills supposed to come from?