Netherlands

With its app already present in Belgium and the Netherlands, start-up Jedlix is introducing smart charging in France. The solution enables Tesla drivers to optimize their charging strategy.

Dutch transmission system operator Enexis, gas provider Gasunie and oil company NAM are considering diverting excess solar capacity in Drenthe province into hydrogen production. The companies are assessing which wind and solar projects may have been excluded from the grid.

The 8.5 kW pilot project, which was launched in February 2018, will soon be expanded to 50 kW. The Dutch consortium behind the installation eventually plans to expand it to 1 MW and then up to 100 MW at a later stage. The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) provided financial backing for the project.

Trade body SolarPower Europe’s preliminary statistics suggest this could be the continent’s best year for PV since 2010, with capacity additions set to soar 104% year on year. Spain is leading the way with an expected 4.7 GW of new solar, followed by Germany, with 4 GW.

Some 7,525 renewables projects with a total generation capacity of 6,223 MW are under review by the Dutch Ministry of Economy in the second round of the SDE+ program for this year. Solar accounts for 74.7% of the submitted capacity.

A PV project by the Chinese company started generating electricity in late October, the group said. German subsidiary Astronergy supplied the solar panels.

With the absorption of ‘hot’ charges, which lose their energy faster than it can be absorbed by any convention technology, solar cells could become massively more efficient. An international group of scientists has developed a method to examine the bond between a perovskite and charge extraction layer, and determine the most suitable materials for hot charge extraction in a solar cell.

Manufacturers and research institutes from across Europe have announced plans to collaborate on creating improved processes for CIGS module production. Optimistically named SUCCESS, the project targets production line efficiencies of better than 20% for 30x30cm modules.

The insolvent photovoltaic manufacturer is still talking to potential investment partners, but it claims that it could resume PV module production at its shuttered factory in the Dutch municipality of Zaanstad on short notice.

Three energy associations, including Holland Solar, have asked the Dutch parliament to take action amid worsening grid connection problems for renewable energy projects in the Netherlands. According to the energy groups, around 700 MW of solar and wind projects allocated under the SDE+ incentive program could lose their payments if they miss connection deadlines.