Europe

Lithuania-headquartered solar PV manufacturer Solitek has expanded its operations into Italy with a 600MW module assembly plant in Benevento.

French independent power producer Girasole Energies has raised €96 million (US$103 million) to support and accelerate its growth in France.

In general, solar panels mounted over vegetation demonstrate surface temperature drops compared to arrays mounted over bare ground due to evapotranspiration from vegetation.

Investment group Foresight Solar Fund has secured a pipeline of 467MW development-stage solar PV projects in Spain.

Italian renewable energy group Enel Green Power has started construction of a 170MW agrivoltaics solar PV plant in Italy.

If Portugal wants to bring forward its target to have 9GW of installed capacity by 2026 rather than the end of the decade, it will need to solve one of its main barriers it faces at the moment: permitting issues.

PV Tech spoke with Peter Dickson, partner at Glennmont Partners, one of Europe’s largest renewable energy investment managers, about PPAs, legislation and price capping. 

IRENA said a total of 192GW of solar capacity was installed in 2022, up 22% yoy.

The number of residential solar and storage systems installed in Germany increased 52% in 2022 compared with the previous year, whilst three quarters of Germans would consider installing rooftop solar.

Brookfield Renewable acquires a 50% stake in renewable developer X-Elio from its joint venture partner and investment firm KKR.