Solar projects can protect archaeological treasures
The shallow pilings used on solar farms can offer relief to subsoil structures which might otherwise be threatened by regular plowing and, as Italy’s biggest solar project has demonstrated, site surveying for PV projects can unearth hidden delights.
The Hydrogen Stream: Green hydrogen for Italy’s Apennine railway, new plans from Ukraine, Estonia, Canada
Spanish energy giant Iberdrola will lead a consortium that plans to convert the Apennine railway axis in central Italy to green hydrogen. Ukrainian energy company NJSC Naftogaz has said it wants to produce green hydrogen with a German partner, and the Port of Tallinn, in Estonia, wants to become a hydrogen hub.
Recovering waste heat from solar cells via a thermoelectric generator
Scientists in Italy have created a hybrid thermoelectric photovoltaic (HTEPV) system based on a thermoelectric generator and a wide-gap perovskite solar cell. The device is able to recover waste heat from the PV unit and produce additional power. According to its creators, this configuration needs large gap cells as these are less sensitive to temperature in terms of efficiency
Eni acquires Italy’s second largest EV charging stations operator
The Italian energy giant acquired Be Power, which operates over 5,000 EV charging stations across Italy.
Italy notches 212 MW/333 MWh of distributed storage capacity, adding 22.5MW/37.9 MWh in Q1 2021
The country added around 22.5 MW/37.9 MWh of new, small-sized storage capacity in the first quarter of 2021.
Integration methodologies for solar-assisted heat pumps
Italian scientists have assessed the technical potential of vapor compression heat pumps assisted by photovoltaic-thermal systems. They analyzed two main configurations of this combination describing the advantages and disadvantages of both solutions. The cheapest and easiest to deploy system is a single-source direct-expansion (DX) configuration for hot water for space heating or domestic hot water.
The Hydrogen Stream: GCL will use Ethiopian natural gas to feed its ammonia and blue hydrogen
Plus there is news this week of a green hydrogen tie-up in India, plans for another German production facility, and of new hydrogen transport networks for Switzerland and the U.S.
Europe had just 650 MW of solar cell manufacturing capacity at the end of 2020
The latest update to the Photovoltaics Report produced by research organization the Fraunhofer ISE has offered up the usual slew of interesting stats on the state of solar across the continent.
Maxeon secures EU cash to make its ‘stick-on’ solar panels in France
The TotalEnergies-controlled solar manufacturer will secure an, as yet undetermined chunk of a new €118.6 million low-carbon innovation fund to start producing its frameless, glass-free solar roofing products at Porcelette, in northeastern France.
Italy’s Eni to acquire 1.2 GW renewable project portfolio in Spain
Independent asset manager Azora is selling the renewable energy portfolio, which includes five large solar PV parks totaling 1 GW in advanced stages of development, located in Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León, Catalonia, Galicia, and La Rioja, to Eni.
