Western Europe

1Komma5° says it plans to start production at a new TOPCon solar module factory in Germany from next year. The Hamburg-based startup aims to achieve an annual production capacity of 1 GW, with further expansion targets set to reach 5 GW by the year 2030.

Spanish researchers claim to have established new measurement methods to assess the performance degradation of PV modules without the need for removing and reinstalling the tested PV modules from their operating positions. The new approach is claimed to increase productivity in PV plant quality control activities.

Encouraged by lab results and a feasibility study, Swedish startup, Green14, in collaboration with Sweden’s Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) plans to build a pilot-scale reactor to make solar grade silicon with a hydrogen plasma process. The company sees the pilot as a step towards using a more sustainable method to produce solar grade silicon for the PV industry at its own gigawatt-scale plant.

Oxford Institute for Energy Studies researchers have developed a cost-effective material to absorb hydrogen at non-cryogenic temperatures, which they consider optimal for fuel cell storage systems.

We Drive Solar and MyWheels have announced plans to transform the Dutch city of Utrecht into the world’s first municipality with a “neighbourhood battery on wheels.” The system will feature 25 Ioniq 5 vehicles equipped with vehicle-to-grid (V2G) tech from Hyundai Motor.

Researchers from Germany’s Fraunhofer ISE developed new techniques to reduce silver consumption in tandem perovskite silicon solar cells and heterojunction silicon PV devices. The new processes relate to cell metallisation and module interconnection.

Hitachi Energy has delivered a modular solution to electrify a 20 MW electrolyser to produce hydrogen to heat steel before rolling, while Enapter has unveiled its AEM electrolysers for industrial and refuelling pilot projects.

With battery storage such a crucial aspect of the energy transition, lithium-ion (li-ion) batteries are frequently referenced but what is the difference between NMC (nickel-manganese-cobalt), LFP (lithium ferro-phosphate), and LTO (lithium-titanium-oxide) devices and their underlying chemistry?

Sodium-ion batteries could diversify the battery supply chain and take the weight off the shoulders of ubiquitous lithium-ion technology. pv magazine sits down with Florian Kogler, head of safety and user experience at Austrian sodium-ion battery business Kite Rise, to discuss the technology’s potential and the company’s development plans for batteries made in Europe.

German PV analyst Karl-Heinz Remmers looks at current price trends in the global and European PV industry. The figures he provides could explain how overcapacity and warehouses full of PV modules are affecting market prices.