Switzerland

The module was developed by Insolight, a spin-off of Switzerland’s École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne. The panel is based on tiny solar cells usually used for spaceflight applications and the limited amount used in the module makes it close to mass production, its creators claim.

Some 377 households and a retirement home are participating in a pilot project. In the first two weeks of this month, solar power generators sold 82% of their electricity within the neighborhood. The goal of the one-year test run is to develop a viable concept for the local marketing of solar power.

The Energy Storage Europe conference and trade show is nearing and pv magazine is featuring the top ten developments in the field as our Energy Storage Highlights, selected by an independent jury of experts. We kick off with Proton Motor’s contribution to a Swiss project that enables apartment tenants to live without a gas or electricity grid connection.

Precision Surfacing Solutions is paying $50 million to take over most of the production facilities as well as 100 employees working in wafer technology in Thun and in service locations worldwide. Meyer Burger wants to focus on PV cell coating and interconnection technologies.

The 2018 figures for the Guarantee of Origin (GO) certificate market show a marked growth in clean energy demand in Europe. Demand surpassed 500 TWh, while GO prices reached record levels. Solar GO, however, saw a slight fall.

According to a Swiss research team, PV technology may take advantage of high Alpine regions to increase generation during winter months when electricity is most needed. On snow-covered mountains, solar panels may have a better yield if their placement takes into account high winter irradiance and ground-reflected radiation and steeper-than-usual panel tilt angles.

Swiss equipment supplier Meyer Burger has received a CHF 74 million (US$74.4 million) order for a 600 MW production line combining heterojunction and smart wire technologies. The order was placed by an unnamed manufacturer, with the line expected to begin cell and module production in the second half of 2019.

As renewable energy subsidies slowly evaporate, managing risks and securing revenue streams is becoming increasingly complex for investors. Pexapark is looking to address this helping companies transact PPAs and manage energy sales.

Meyer Burger’s largest single shareholder has requested the company change strategy. Sentis Capital has urged the Swiss technology company’s board to raise sufficient capital for it to set up its own GW-sized production facility for its heterojunction and tandem cell PV technology. Meyer Burger has responded that it is view of only one shareholder.

The scheme will provide incentives for solar-plus-storage projects for self-consumption, as well as for projects for virtual power storage.