Sustainability

Mounting system manufacturers back their technology but farmers still have questions about the realities of solar on agricultural land. Ramping up research on how agrivoltaics affect farming yields could provide vital answers.

With metropolitan-borough and city councils in England and Wales already driving decarbonization initiatives, local government bodies could do so much more if given adequate powers and funding.

RMIT University in Australia has developed new software that integrates product, regulation, technical, economic, and construction data. It helps architects and engineers to estimate the cost of building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) during the conceptual design phase.

PV has real potential on agricultural land in Italy, where multinationals and entrepreneurs alike share an enthusiasm for solar innovation. This is being hindered by a piecemeal approach to regulation.

Europe awakened to its energy dependency on Russian gas as the Russia-Ukraine conflict unfolded and the war has pushed the European Union to accelerate its energy transition. Italy could play an important role.

Researchers in Spain have used a glass fiber reinforced composite material with an epoxy matrix containing cleavable ether groups as an encapsulant material for photovoltaic panels. They found that new material still has issues with performance stability, but they also ascertained it ensures lower electrical losses.

For those who combine solar, batteries, and electric vehicles (EVs) at home, driving on sunshine is a realistic goal. However, there are many factors to consider when analyzing the economic payoffs, as well as the technical possibilities and limitations of such systems.

PV module importers in the Netherlands saw the solar module recycling fee increase from €6.50 ($6.8) per ton to €40 per ton in July. In a chat with pv magazine, Jan-Willem Jehee, operations manager at Stichting Zonne-energie Recycling Nederland (ZRN), explains the money generated from the fee hike will be used to finance a guarantee fund that would ‘absorb shocks in the market should one occur.’

Germany advanced its hydrogen ambitions this week with a fresh call for the International Green Hydrogen Promotion Program in Latin America, a collaborative deal with the UK government, and a tie-up between DHL and Sasol for sustainable aviation fuels based on green hydrogen (eSAF).

Warnings about the need to decentralize Ukraine’s electricity grid, made 10 years before the Russian invasion, fell on deaf ears at the time. In the wake of war, nations across Eastern and Central Europe are alive to the risks embodied in traditional energy networks.