The Nant de Drance facility began commercial operations on July 1 and is currently one of Europe’s largest pumped-hydro storage stations.

A new report from the International Energy Agency stresses the importance of geographically diversifying the global PV supply chain. This would prevent supply chain vulnerability to bankruptcies and underinvestment.

Basf and Man Energy announced a plan to build a 120 MW renewables-powered heat pump for steam production at an industrial site operated by Basf in the Rhineland-Palatinate region, Germany. The feasibility study for the project should be completed by the end of this year.

Scientists from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have said that the combination of floating solar with hydropower could reduce PV curtailment.

Norwegian scientists have tested a new floating PV system concept at a water reservoir in Sri Lanka. The system is made of composite beams to support the solar panels and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes to provide buoyancy.

Over Easy Solar AS has developed a rooftop PV system with two generation peaks – one in the morning at 11 am, and one in the evening at 7 pm. It has been deployed on a school building.

Japan’s Rinnai has unveiled what it claims is the world’s first 100% hydrogen combustion technology for residential water heaters. It is currently using the hydrogen water heater in demonstration projects in Australia, prior to commercialization.

Japan’s Arth has designed an autonomous habitation module that produces water in places without energy and water infrastructure. The company said the residential unit could also be used as an emergency evacuation site.

Italian solar panel manufacturer Sunerg has developed an integrated photovoltaic water heater solution based on two resistances. The system relies on a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) controller and can work with a PV module with a power output of up to 450 W.

The Korean manufacturer launched a new bifacial module based on M10 wafers and is planning to produce bigger modules based on M12 wafers starting from the third quarter.