Western Europe

Italian start-up Genius Watter has developed a solar desalination solution that is claimed to be particularly suitable for remote areas with no connection to grid electricity. The system is able to produce up to 1,000 cubic meters of potable water per day at an opex of €0.20 per cubic meter.

The database brings together photovoltaic performance data and meteorological values from PV systems located in all climate zones. It is being built by an international consortium including the Fraunhofer Centre for Silicon Photovoltaics CSP, and the Anhalt University of Applied Sciences.

Province Resources has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with French giant Total Eren, which could see the two companies have equal shares in Province’s HyEnergy Zero Carbon Hydrogen project proposed in northwest Western Australia. Importantly, the ambition of the project seems to have grown significantly with the commitment of heavy hitter, Total Eren, with Province now saying it plans to install 8 GW of renewable energy capacity, far more than the 1 GW which caused a stir when it was announced earlier this year.

Annual battery storage installations will exceed 10 GW/28 GWh in 2021, following a particularly strong year in 2020, despite the challenges created by the global pandemic, writes IHS Markit analyst Mike Longson. Combined solar and storage will be a core focus for new deployment in 2021, as the front-of-the-meter and behind-the-meter energy storage markets are both expected to grow significantly in the months ahead.

The joint feasibility study between Australia and Germany, HySupply, to determine the viability of a renewable energy-based hydrogen supply chain between the two countries, has progressed again after global firm RWE Supply & Trading and Australian-based The Hydrogen Utility signed a Memorandum of Understanding which could see green ammonia exports from South Australia to Germany’s LNG Terminal in Brunsbüttel.

The company being acquired, Azur Space, produces triple-junction space solar cells with an average efficiency of up to 30% and is planning to develop ultra-thin solar cells with up to 35%.

Three Dutch political parties have brought the forced labour issue to Parliament and have asked the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Sigrid Kaad, to report on the matter.

The cell reached 26.0% efficiency and showed open-circuit voltage values of up to 732 mV. It was fabricated with a back junction (BJ) design with a full-area p-n-junction at the back surface.

Vattenfall, SSAB and LKAB are building a rock cavern storage facility in a coastal city in northern Sweden. The 100-cubic-meter facility will be built 30 meters below ground and will begin storing green hydrogen next year.

French scientists have proposed the use of radiative sky cooling as a passive cooling technique to cut PV module temperatures by 10 C. They claim the method could improve performance by more than 5 W/m2.