Just under a year after the opening of Reiling's first recycling plant for solar modules, two technological breakthroughs have been achieved. Firstly, the quality of the recovered solar glass has been significantly improved. In addition, the recovery of silicon has been realised on an industrial scale.
AGC Group has announced that it has succeeded for the first time in Japan in a demonstration test to recycle cover glass for solar modules into float glass. With the success of this test, AGC expects that cover glass can be used to make float glass.
Intec Energy Solutions has announced its recent participation in the United Nations Global Compact initiative. This is a voluntary platform that encourages the development, implementation and disclosure of responsible business practices.
Italy based manfuacturer FuturaSun has long directed its efforts towards studying the environmental performance of its products. Now it obtained the EPD environmental product certification for its Silk Plus FU 400-410 module.
SMA will reduce its energy consumption by 24 per cent by 2024 with heat pumps, LEDs and other measures. In addition, SMA employees and visitors will have more charging options on site.
As well as learning about European regulations on solar sustainability and recycling, attendees at Sustainable Solar Europe will also learn how to get the most out of land. The conference will take place in Brussels on 7 December.
Rating agency EcoVadis has once again awarded SMA a gold medal for successful sustainability management. This puts SMA among the top five percent of companies assessed by EcoVadis worldwide.
Longi announced that its emission reduction targets were approved by the independent Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). With the approval, Longi has become one of more than 4600 companies worldwide that have joined the SBTi and set science-based targets.
The waste management company Reiling is expanding its capacities to recycle old silicon-based modules. Up to 50,000 tonnes a year are dismantled and processed there, also to recover silicon or silver.
Energy to Market, EDF Renewables and the Speira aluminium mill took a look at one and a half years of storage operation at the Hamburg rolling mill. The results are impressive:
The partners in the Demobat project have not only developed a flexible system to separate the individual components of the batteries from each other, but also a way to recover the raw materials they contain from the black mass.
Sustainable investments that not only promise a return but also have a positive environmental and social impact are in demand as never before. One of the pioneers in this field is now turning ten years old.
The conference Sustainable Solar Europe takes place in Brussels, 27 October, organized by Intersolar Europe and SolarPower Europe.
In the context of EU legislative proposals on corporate responsibility in supply chains, the European solar industry has published its concrete plan towards a more responsible, transparent, and sustainable value chain.
WI Energy, Atmosfair and German retailer Otto are taking special measures to renaturalise areas in the Eifel and Harz regions in Germany where solar parks have been built. In this way, the project partners want to help biodiversity.
Flat glass manufacturer Saint-Gobain makes inroads into solutions for solar facades in Swiss Europe by investing in building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) provider Megasol.
A hotelier in Germany has had his car park covered with solar energy. In doing so, he is responding to customer demands and becomes a pioneer of the solar energy transition in the region.
Interview: Moritz Rolf, Director Central & Eastern Europe, Sungrow EMEA, talks about new products and applications, supply chain issues, costs, sustainability and a possible future production in Europe.
An examination of the entire life cycle of the Tauro project inverter has shown that it benefits the environment 52 times more than the resources consumed in its manufacture. The results were confirmed by Fraunhofer IZM.
Green food, green energy and now green real estate? The trend toward greater sustainability is not stopping at the building sector.
Solarwatt has received a Cradle to Cradle certificate for its module production in Dresden. Among other things, the company has drastically reduced its carbon footprint - also in the supply chain.
A study has evaluated the environmental impact of industrially manufactured perovskite-on-silicon tandem solar modules over their entire service life. Result: The tandem solar modules are even more environmentally friendly than conventional silicon heterojunction modules.
Winner of a 2022 Intersolar Award, REC Solar presents the Alpha Pure series, one of the world’s first mass-produced, certified lead-free PV modules.
Rock Tech Lithium has agreed to collaborate with Fraunhofer Umsicht and supply chain tracking company Circulor to provide carbon-neutral lithium from Europe.
The gigafactory is expected to enter operations in late 2024, utilizing 100 per cent clean energy to produce up to 100 gigawatt hours’ worth of cathode material to enable cell assembly at multiple Northvolt facilities.
