Western Europe

Deal for 50.03% of Lightsource BP leaves oil and gas giant with total control of renewables developer. Lightsource BP is expected to continue trading with a standalone operating model, retaining its independent brand.

UK-based Caldera has developed a new heat storage technology that can reportedly convert on-site generated solar power into on-demand heat, thus replacing conventional gas boilers. The system uses a composite of recycled aluminum and volcanic rocks to store heat at up to 500 C and produce steam.

Scientists have used hydrometallurgical and electrochemical processes to recover pure silver from solar cells. The proposed technique also utilizes a method known as electrodeposition-redox replacement, which reportedly increases the silver recovery rate.

Three years after acquiring U.S.-based Cuberg, Swedish battery maker Northvolt has decided to shut down the California unit and move future lithium-metal battery R&D to Sweden.

Conceived by an international research team, the new bidding strategy applies to the day-after and the intraday markets. It uses a technique that transforms results from probabilistic models into actual scenarios. Their method showed its ability to yield increased revenues and reduced imbalance.

Transported 900 metres along the Seine, a 78 kW temporary photovoltaic power plant has docked at the Athletes’ Village to meet the needs of the Olympic and Paralympic Place for renewable electricity consumption.

The companies want to develop cost-effective and efficient photovoltaic products for space applications using next-generation, ultra-thin, radiation-resistant solar cells. Starting next year, hundreds of vehicles for space travel could be equipped with the flexible modules.

A Dutch and U.S. research team performed optical and electrical simulations to understand loss mechanisms in two terminal (2T) tandem cells based on perovskite and commercially available copper-indium-gallium-selenide (CIGS) cells, and subsequently established a roadmap to increase efficiency via four key modifications.

Elastocalorics have the potential to replace current air conditioning and heating systems, offering significant energy savings when paired with technologies such as photovoltaics.

Researchers in Spain have created a novel PV forecasting method that uses only direct radiation as a parameter. They found it to be “comparable, if not superior” to four established forecasting techniques. The method could help homeowners with PV systems decide when to use electricity-intensive appliances and cleaning systems.