Germany

Executive, career and boardroom moves in solar, storage, cleantech, utilities and energy VC.

German manufacturer a2-solar has supplied 240 solar panels for the renovation of an old building in Bern, Switzerland. The modules, which are being integrated into 96 balconies, feature different transparency options and color variations.

Electrolyzer manufacturers are in agreement on the goal of rapidly reducing investment costs, mainly through economies of scale. Some are embracing large units, while others are betting on quantity over size. The first approach is attractive for operators of large PV plants, while the latter is better suited to operators of small systems.

No potential investor could be found to take over the thin-film solar business. Insolvency proceedings started a few days ago and the business operations of the CIGS thin-film company were finally halted.

Wind power generated 45.8% of German electricity in February. Solar power contributed 4.2%, while lignite usage hit a new low.

Tesla has secured approval from the Berlin-Brandenburg administrative court to start clearing 91 hectares of forest for its first European “gigafactory,” which is scheduled to start operations in summer 2021.

The 100 MW tender was five times oversubscribed.

An international group of scientists has developed a method to track the microscopic processes at work in lithium batteries. Employing a ‘virtual unrolling’ model developed for ancient manuscripts too sensitive to be opened, the group peeked inside the layers of a commercial battery to gain a better understanding of the processes at work and the degradation mechanisms affecting them.

Executive and boardroom moves in solar, storage, project development, cleantech, utilities and venture capital.

The German network operator reported approximately 339 MW of new solar in December. New installations for 2019 exceeded new capacity additions in 2018 by more than 1 GW.