The Hydrogen Stream: US will focus on blue H2, at least one giga-scale green project will take FID in 2025
Wood Mackenzie says the United States will dominate the blue hydrogen market by 2025, driven by policy shifts and large-scale investments, while Siemens Mobility says it has secured approval for its Mireo Plus H hydrogen trains to begin passenger service in Germany.
German institutes unveil facade with PV, weather protection, thermal insulation
The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (Fraunhofer ISE) and the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology (Fraunhofer UMSICHT) say their new facade combines PV modules, weather protection, and thermal insulation. It eliminates the need for a substructure and uses insulation made from sustainable raw materials.
Innovation or scam? Epeu Next Level presents hydrogen-plasma heating system
Epeu Next Level unveiled a hydrogen-plasma heating system at a recent event in Germany, its home market. It claims the system can easily replace gas boilers in apartment buildings, but it has failed to explain why it apparently contradicts the first law of thermodynamics.
Midea Hiconics releases new residential all-in-one battery storage systems
The Chinese company says its three-phase Hienergy series can pair with PV arrays of up to 8.5 kW, with battery storage reaching up to 40.8 kWh.
Fraunhofer ISE developing copper metallization for tandem perovskite-silicon solar cells
The German research institute said it is currently exploring three copper metallization methods: Screen printing, FlexTrail printing and rotary printing. The proposed technology is reportedly compatible with either TOPCon or heterojunction bottom cells.
Fraunhofer ISE concludes perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell project
The five-year MaNiTU project, involving six Fraunhofer institutes, covered a range of investigations across the life cycle of perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells. It included the development of a scalable solar cell with a 31.6% power conversion efficiency.
Researchers complete Europe’s first PV soiling loss assessment
A European research group has adapted a soiling model for use across the continent, analyzing scenarios with complete and partial rain cleaning to calculate energy losses and increases in the levelized cost of energy (LCOE), marking Europe’s first techno-economic PV soiling assessment.
Why battery energy storage is essential for Germany’s solar targets
While Germany’s battery energy storage sector is booming, developers should be aware of the various hurdles to overcome and could learn lessons from the United Kingdom battery market.
The Hydrogen Stream: Optimal PV-to-electrolyzer ratio in Italy is 1.8-2.1
Italian researchers say hydrogen storage offers more supply-side flexibility than battery storage, while a German consortium has developed a global hydrogen potential atlas for sustainable production and trade.
Fire risk for home energy storage systems is 0.0049%, says German study
RWTH Aachen University in Germany has investigated the safety of battery storage systems and compared it with other household appliances or technologies. The study aims to create a reliable database for classifying fire risk for consumers and regulators.
