Lithuania

Czech specialist module manufacturer Fill Factory has signed up to take €500,000 worth of Valoe’s inter-digitated back contact cells under a one-year supply contract.

The trade body has highlighted a lack of explicit PV industry support in EU member states which already host domestic manufacturers, such as Germany, France, Austria, Belgium and Lithuania, and says the focus on green hydrogen could exacerbate the solar trade deficit with Asia.

While solar, wind and hydro generated 80 TWh more electricity last year than in 2019, coal and oil use fell in every EU member state, and Greek energy emissions fell almost 19%.

Valoe completed the 15-month purchase process of a 60 MW cell production line from Solitek in the spring and installed interdigitated back-contact production equipment. It hopes to begin deliveries in the next quarter.

Amid a growing appetite for sustainability from customers, Lithuanian solar panel maker Solitek is applying circular principles to its production operations. Measures include embracing digitalization and new approaches to design. Project manager Tadas Radavičius has spoken to pv magazine about the company’s work and how Solitek is supporting European projects which are considering circular solar.

Appetite may have been lacking among private investors – at a time when global stocks are tanking amid Covid-19 and global recession fears – but the eco-friendly new Finnish government, and neighboring administrations, have stepped in to fill the breach.

Sun Investment Group has launched a purchasing model which offers the chance to buy or rent solar panels elsewhere for those without the prospect of an installation which can generate energy directly for their home.

Valoe Corporation has extended its €3.5m convertible bonds issuance but with investors fleeing to safe havens and Lithuania yesterday announcing COVID-19 quarantine measures, hopes of getting cell manufacturing off the ground in Vilnius this month appear unrealistic.

A convertible bond issuance by Valoe Corp is due to expire on Sunday and the board has already been forced to sign up for more than 40% of the investment. The module maker, which is still attempting to pay for a cell line acquired from Solitek last year, has been announced as a technology partner by Munich-based Sono Motors.

The research group that developed the cell said the two materials used to produce it, dubbed 2PACz and MeO-2PACz, will soon be commercially available. The material consists of 1-2nm of self-assembled monolayers deposited on the surface of the perovskite by dipping it into a diluted solution.