The reports were launched in conjunction with SolarPower Europe’s Solar Quality Summit in Barcelona, Spain, this week, a conference focusing on solar quality and technical due diligence.

“Quality hybrid solar and battery storage projects are powering Europe’s clean energy,” said Walburga Hemetsberger, CEO of SolarPower Europe. “These landmark reports will support the sector in building and maintaining high-calibre hybrid solar projects with flexibility and confidence, while driving Europe’s solar transformation forward.” 

SolarPower Europe, the primary trade body and lobby for the solar industry in Europe, said the Technical Due Diligence report provided an “industry-first” framework for the entire lifespan of a hybrid solar-plus-storage project, from planning to decommissioning, and proposes best practices for the technical, legal and financial aspects of such projects.

The report was complied by SolarPower Europe’s Lifecycle Quality Workstream, it said, with “over 30 experts” from across the solar sector – “from Operations & Maintenance (O&M), EPC, engineering, recycling and circularity, waste management, utility-scale solar, and manufacturing backgrounds.”  

The EPC best practice report – updated for its third version – includes additions on biodiversity protection and cybersecurity for project procurement and construction, the trade body said, along with “substantially expanded” guidance on engineering and building hybrid solar-plus-storage facilities.

These reports’ focus on hybrid utility-scale solar-plus-storage projects shows the extent to which colocation has become a major fixture of Europe’s solar market. Industry figures have repeatedly said that colocation is now a major part of the solar offering and business case, particularly as markets mature and renewables capacity expands faster than grid development. PV Tech Premium examined the growth of hybrid projects in the context of the maturing BESS market last month.

Wojtek Swietochowski, general manager, ABO Energy, and vice-chair of SolarPower Europe’s Lifecycle Quality Workstream said: “Hybrid PV and energy storage systems are reshaping Europe’s energy landscape, and common standards are essential for this growth. These guidelines guarantee that hybrid projects deliver reliable performances, protect workers and biodiversity, and meet the expectations of both investors and communities.”

The reports also reflect the growing focus on quality and due diligence in large-scale solar. As the technology scales and rapidly expands across multiple markets and geographies, a focus on quality has become imperative. Cost pressure from upstream manufacturing – which have resulted in multiple records of increased module defects and breakages – have added another dimension to the quality assurance discussion.

PV Tech published some reports from the Solar Quality Summit in Barcelona this week, with more to follow.