Western Europe

Australia has certainly demonstrated its appetite for solar power. Now, with the average lifespan of a solar panel being approximately 20 years, many installations from the early 2000’s are set to reach end-of-life. Will they end up in landfill or be recycled? The cost of recycling is higher than landfill, and the value of recovered materials is smaller than the original, so there’s limited interest in recycling. But given the presence of heavy metals, such as lead and tin, if waste is managed poorly, we’re on track for another recycling crisis. A potential time bomb could present itself as an opportunity, however, if the global EV industry showed an interest in the recovered solar products.

Homegrown fast-charging technology company Tritium has launched “Plug and Charge,” a seamlessly simultaneous way to charge your electric vehicle and pay for the pleasure.

Italian-headquartered module manufacturer FuturaSun has completed accrediting its module range with the Clean Energy Council.

German electric boating company Torqueedo’s 100,000th sale highlights a shift in leisure and small commuter boating towards the electric.

The 11th edition of the German document which tracks solar price falls and efficiency improvements has considered the role bigger wafers are playing in cost reduction.

The patentability of Korean company Hanwha’s technology is being examined by a U.S. commission, according to Jinko. The Chinese manufacturer said it expects a final decision by December.

An Italian consortium has developed a panel recycling process it claims can recover up to 99% of raw materials. The developers claim their technique takes only 40 seconds to fully recycle a standard panel, depending on size and recycling site conditions.

Western Australian peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading pioneer Power Ledger has revealed the world’s biggest ‘choose your own energy source’ project in France.

France’s Sunbooster has developed a technology to cool down solar modules when their ambient temperature exceeds 25 C. The solution features a set of pipes that spread a thin film of water onto the glass surface of the panels in rooftop PV systems and ground-mounted plants. The cooling systems collect the water from rainwater tanks and then recycle, filter and store it again. The company claims the technology can facilitate an annual increase in power generation of between 8% and 12%.

The British university will use Redflow zinc-bromine flow batteries at its Active Building demonstrator – an award-winning classroom that generates, stores and releases solar energy at the point of use.