Switzerland

Agreement to wave requirement for chief shareholder FEFAM to conduct a full takeover paves way for shareholders to vote through a debt-for-equity swap that will reduce the historic battery maker’s debts by a reported 65% next Tuesday.

Venerable Swiss brand Leclanché is on an expansionist trail, notably in India and low-carbon shipping, but restructuring its debts will involve ceding even more control of the famous company to institutional investors.

While analyzing the role of social spillovers in the adoption of solar energy solutions, a research team has found that cultural and language barriers may represent a factor causing lower levels of development. In particular, they discovered that the adoption of rooftop PV solutions may be up to 20% lower in border regions between the French-speaking and the German-speaking parts of Switzerland.

Researchers from Kaunas University of Technology in Lithuania, working with the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, have found an additive commonly used to improve performance in perovskite solar cells speeds up degradation of the material.

There may be a much-vaunted ‘solar renaissance’ in the offing for Europe, but it hasn’t come quickly enough for the Swiss PV equipment supplier, which wants to handle most of its sales and services from China.

Bankset Energy Corporation has ambitious plans to install gigawatts of solar PV on railway sleepers across the globe. While the first installation took place in Switzerland, work is under way on projects in Germany, the United Kingdom, France, the United States, China and Italy; and gearing up in Austria and Spain. pv magazine speaks to Bankset Group president, Patrick Buri.

While revenues have doubled year on year, Leclanché says its EBITDA is suffering from high operational expenses and one-off payments. However, the goal to post a positive EBITDA by 2020 is on track, it adds.

A team led by Switzerland’s Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale Lausanne has developed a low-dimensional perovskite layer it says can be used as a capping layer on perovskite solar cell material, improving stability and water resistance. The team reports a 20% efficient cell incorporating the material.

The solar manufacturing equipment maker has posted an EBIT of US$15 million for the six-month period. It marks a return to profitability for the Swiss company, after major restructuring and cost optimization programs over the past 18 months.

The solar plant was commissioned last week in Ourique, southern Portugal. The project was developed by UK-based renewable energy company Welink and Chinese engineering services provider China Triumph International Engineering (CTIEC).