Solar projects in India with power purchase agreements signed prior to 1 August 2020 will be exempt from steeper customs duties on Chinese component imports, the country’s power minister has confirmed.

Asset management firm Capital Dynamics has purchased a 353MW portfolio of North American solar projects from independent power product Coronal Energy.

German utility E.On has partnered with engineering major thyssenkrupp to plug large-scale hydrogen electrolysis plants into Germany’s grid using a renewables-backed virtual power plant (VPP).

An influx of renewables in Australia is driving thermal generation off the grid faster than expected, according to analysts Fitch Solutions.

An increasing number of banks are turning away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy financing. As Catherine Early reports, despite the chilling effect of the coronavirus pandemic on the industry, hopes are high that a tipping point is nearing.

A round-up of recent developments in the US solar market, including news of Vivint Solar sealing US$300 million of tax equity commitments and Bank of America signing a solar PPA in Texas.

LONGi Solar has introduced its next-generation series of large-area high-performance modules for utility-scale PV power plant markets globally, offering up to 540Wp performance.

PV Tech continues to chart the global solar industry’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, this edition featuring news that the pandemic is driving down PV system costs.

Chinese module manufacturer JinkoSolar has confirmed a 100MW order with Australia-based distributor Blue Sun Group for its Cheetah Plus modules.

Module supplier Trina Solar is to supply 187.5MW of its double-glass Duomax modules to utility EnBW for the Weesow-Willmersdorf solar farm near Germany’s capital, Berlin.

Arizona utility Tucson Electric Power (TEP) has set out plans to provide 70% of its power from solar and wind by 2035, backed up with investment in new energy storage capacity.

French utility EDF is launching a major solar-plus-battery storage hybrid initiative in England and Wales as part of plans to double its installed renewable base.

China-based PV backsheet and high-efficiency PV manufacturer Jolywood (Suzhou) Sunwatt Co has been awarded Customer Testing Facility (CTF) status by TÜV Nord Group.

A total of seven China-based PV manufacturers have officially started efforts to establish a new ‘M10’ (182mm x 182mm p-type monocrystalline) large-area wafer size standard to reduce manufacturing costs throughout the entire solar industry supply chain as the number of large-area wafer sizes have emerged in the last few years.

Solar module imports into India face customs duties of as much as 40% by next year under plans outlined by the government, an apparent escalation of details released earlier this week.

Microinverter manufacturer Enphase and module producer Q CELLS are to join forces to develop an AC module (ACM) aimed at the US residential solar market.

Additions have been made to support action on climate change through federal tax incentives in the proposed Congress bill to invest US$1.5 trillion in infrastructure across the US.

LevelTen Energy is conducting a search for up to 500MW of renewable power in Europe on behalf of an unnamed corporate client.

PV inverter specialist, Huayu New Energy, has launched its ‘HY 2000 Plus’ microinverter, which has the highest recorded power density on the market and has four (4) MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) and quad-module-level monitoring as standard. The HY-2000-Plus is also the first commercially announced microinverter that is compatible with the latest 500-580Wp high-performance large-area solar panels that are entering the global market.

The Trump administration has stifled solar and other renewables development on public lands in the US, achieving less than the Obama administration and hindering the country’s renewable energy transition.

Developer European Energy has completed a 103MW solar farm in southern Italy, lauding it as the country’s largest to date.

Solarcentury and Dutch banking firm Rabobank have reached financial close on a €20 million (US$22.4 million) deal to support the development of two utility-scale solar farms in the Netherlands.

Financial services giant Wells Fargo has turned to Shell Energy to procure around 150,000MWh of solar power under new power purchase agreements.

Amazon’s multi-billion-dollar Climate Pledge Fund will help support low carbon technologies including those in energy generation and storage.

Adding energy storage can boost solar PV project revenues by as much as 50% in the US state of Massachusetts, US developer Stem Inc has claimed.

Spain’s PV industry has welcomed government approval of a package of legislative measures aimed at speeding up the country’s transition to 100% renewables.

Plans to establish the first of three ‘renewable energy zones’ (REZ) in the Australian state of New South Wales have seen an overwhelming level of interest, with a call for proposals chalking up a nine-fold oversubscription.

India is set to impose a 20% levy on imported solar modules, cells and inverters from August, replacing the current safeguard duty.

A round-up of recent news from the US solar market, as US government bodies launch a new initiative to boost the cybersecurity of solar developments while an ex-First Solar president joins a California-based tracker company.

Measures designed to support solar and other renewables in the US have been proposed within a landmark US$1.5 trillion infrastructure investment Bill, tabled by House Democrats.