pv magazine Roundtables Europe 2022: Which battery to choose?

The answer, according to Northvolt's Wilhelm Löwenhielm, at least, is that no one battery technology will sweep the board, as there is room and market demand in Europe for multiple types of product.

And that's a wrap on a two-day extravaganza which, Marija has just told us, attracted more than 2,500 registrants.

Thanks for your interest and keep fightin' the good fight folks!

pv magazine

Should we look to sodium-ion cells, fall back on tried and trusted lithium-ion and simply hope for the best on the raw materials required, or look elsewhere?

We've brought together – virtually – proponents of both chemistries and given WoodMac analyst Max Reid the unenviable task of refereeing between them.

Let debate commence!

#RTEU22

That is the question Giovanni Buogo, from inverter maker Solis, will be attempting to answer shortly after the hydrogen debate, which is drawing to a close as we speak.

Marija Maisch and Michael Fuhs are now guiding the final session of our Roundtables Europe event.

Tune in to hear more about hydrogen – powered by renewables, ideally – as well as more outre' technology solutions to even out electricity from intermittent renewables.

#RTEU22

We've wrapped up our PPA pricing debate but will be back in two shakes of a lamb's tail with the final session of our two-day event, which is devoted to green hydrogen and advanced energy storage and what they can do to help RePower the EU.

How much does European solar electricity cost right now?

Representatives from Bloomberg, Axpo Italia, and Google give their observations and perhaps their predictions too, if we're lucky.

#RTEU22

We're back on the beat here at pv magazine Towers and Andy Sommer, head of fundamental analysis and modeling at Swiss energy group Axpo, is positing his best guess at where the energy price will go in the mid term.

You don't wanna miss that, right?

#RTEU22

It's lunchtime but we'll be back with plenty more solar fodder from 2pm folks!

With Longi's Jason Yan having said the Chinese manufacturer believes the best returns can be had from modules housing M10, rather than the larger M12 silicon wafers, it's time to bring in some of his peers.

Representatives from testing institutes PI Berlin and Austria-based AIT – and hopefully also from German developer Belectric at some stage – are now weighing in with their thoughts on the topic.

#RTEU22

pv magazine‘s Michael Fuhs has opened our pre-lunch session, which will consider the solar module options available for project developers.

We'll be taking a look at design options, product reliability and, perhaps most importantly, what sort of revenue can be generated by competing brands.

#RTEU22

As ever, we'd like to offer our thanks to all our sponsors, who have made this two-day event possible.

Thanks for your support!

Now the discussion is heating up as we throw the tech question out to our industry experts.

Jonathan Gifford has put a cat among the pigeons by suggesting any new solar tech will bring unforeseen associated problems that will have to be overcome.

#RTEU22

With Risen's Po-Chuan Yang having put the case for HJT panels, it's now Roberto Murgioni's turn to argue the toss for TopCon, on behalf of JinkoSolar.

Our own Mark Hutchins is moderating the latest session in the main studio, as we try to predict which of the leading n-type solar contenders will dominate.

Now then, are you a heterojunction (HJT) or tunnel-oxide passivated contact (TopCon) advocate? Where's your money on this one?

#RTEU22

Børge Bjørneklett, of Norwegian start-up Ocean Sun, has been talking us through his company's open-water floating solar system on our main stage.

Dealing with salt water and waves are just two of the many headaches facing developers of floating solar plants, as Stäubli Electrical Connectors' Andrea Viaro has been telling us.

Right now, Studer Cables' Jan Mastny is sharing the benefit of his quarter of a century in the industry, in particular, why it is important to use good quality components when constructing a solar project.

Expectations are finally rising about building-integrated PV (BIPV) in Europe – a segment of the solar sector which has been thought to have under-performed to date.

Amid rising optimism, we're taking a look at the technology available and the sort of regulation required to turbocharge delivery.

Right now, pv magazine‘s Beatriz Santos is moderating a public discussion about what solar can do to reduce Europe's dependence on Russian gas.

Welcome to Day Two of our <b>pv magazine</b> Roundtables Europe event.

We'll be starting at 10am with a look at new solar applications on land, at sea, and in the built environment.

We then have sessions devoted to cell and module manufacturing trends; module design, reliability, and revenue expectations; risk-sharing in mature solar markets; and energy storage and green green hydrogen during another packed day.

Has that whetted your appetite? If so, and if you're late to the party, have a gander at yesterday's live blog here to get a taste of what took place on day one.

#RTEU22