Belgium

The Flemish authorities have allocated a budget of €3 million ($3.3 million) for the first round of its solar rebate scheme. The call is open to homeowners, businesses, public organizations, and energy communities.

Scientists in Belgium have developed perovskite solar panels with a thermally stable device stack. The encapsulated bifacial panels they created with this configuration were able to retain around 92% of their initial efficiency after 1,000 hours.

Property developer Steenoven and an undisclosed construction contractor have started drilling a borehole for a new thermal energy storage system in the historic city of Bruges, Belgium.

HDF and ZETDC have signed Zimbabwe’s first utility-scale green hydrogen power plant, with 178 GWh of expected annual electricity production. Rystad Energy, meanwhile, says Africa’s total electrolyzer pipeline has hit 114 GW.

Belgium-based Belinus says its new PV modules feature a nominal power rating of 420 W and a power conversion efficiency of 20.1%. It says plans are also in place to build a 500 MW solar panel factory at an unspecified Belgian site.

Tractebel, DEME, and Jan De Nul will deploy a pilot offshore floating PV facility off the Belgian coast in the summer. The Seavolt floating platform is reportedly able to withstand difficult offshore conditions.

Scientists in Belgium have designed a solar-powered electrolyzer that uses standard-sized, large area shingled silicon PV for water splitting. The system is reportedly able to achieve solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of 10% at electrolyzer current densities of approximately 60 mA cm−2.

South Korean researchers have revealed a scalable production method for platinum-based fuel cell catalysts, while Germany moved forward on its hydrogen strategy by signing agreements with Australia, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

Solyx Energy has developed a device to maximize solar self-consumption in residential homes. The sensor measures how much solar power can be fed back into the grid at different times, while a controller redirects that excess energy into an electric water heater.

Luxembourg’s Socom and Belgium’s Evocells have announced plans to merge. The new company, Solarcells, will open a 50 MW solar panel factory in Luxembourg by the end of this year, with plans to potentially double its annual output by 2026.