Germany

German research institute Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) and equipment supplier Schmid have jointly developed a production for customizable modules for building-integrated projects. According to Fraunhofer ISE, the concepts developed by joint study could reduce the production cost for BIPV modules as much as 35%.

Roughly seven months after its new beginning, the German solar PV manufacturer has again filed for insolvency at the District Court of Bonn – the second time in one year. SolarWorld blames the planned phasing out of anti-dumping measures by the EU Commission against Chinese competition and the further drop in prices.

Scientists led by the University of Braunschweig have developed a new type of solar concentrator, which can concentrate light from any direction onto a small area, such as a solar panel. The researchers say that funnels can be tuned to different light wavelengths and stacked, allowing for conversion of the entire light spectrum into electricity.

The latest arrival to the Australian battery storage market will now have the backing of a major German utility. German storage provider Senec has been acquired by EnBW, one of Germany’s ‘big three’ utilities.

Onshore wind and solar PV will go head-to-head for the first time in a new 200 MW tender in Germany. Bids for solar PV ground-mounted projects and onshore wind farms can be submitted to the Federal Network Agency by April 3.

More than €30 million in anti-dumping and countervailing duties could have been circumvented by a German company importing modules from China, according to the German custom authorities.