The European Union (EU) has raised its 2030 emissions reduction target by 15 percentage points after solid levels of renewable energy deployment mean the bloc is on track surpass its previous goal.

Trina Solar’s new Vertex series of high power modules have passed TUV Rheinland’s comprehensive reliability tests in what the manufacturer described as “another major breakthrough” for its latest product additions.

Lithuanian state-owned energy company Ignitis Group has signed an agreement to acquire solar parks in Poland with a total capacity of up to 170MW from developer Sun Investment Group (SIG).

A round-up of the latest news from the US solar market, as Duke Energy unveils what it has described as “next generation net metering” in South Carolina and more details emerge of Sunpower spin-off Maxeon’s top table.

Global governments could divert massive amounts of public funds from cancelled, large-scale power generation projects, such as nuclear, towards solar and other renewables to deliver consumers more value for money.

Major integrated PV module manufacturer, Suntech has started ramping up a 1GW integrated cell and module assembly plant in Indonesia, predominantly to serve the US market that takes its nameplate module assembly capacity above 10GW.

The world will need to build five to six times as much solar and wind power per year as in 2019 if a carbon-zero economy is to be reached by the middle of the century, a study has said.

RainWise has introduced the ‘PVmet 500’ weather station series for commercial and utility-scale PV power plants, which is said to be the world’s first compact and customizable multi-function professional grade weather station specifically designed for PV efficiency monitoring. The PVmet 500 provides a cost-effective solution, measurement accuracy, and IEC-61724-1 compliance and handles multiple communication protocols for fast field acceptance.

Trina Solar has taken full control of Spanish tracker system manufacturer Nclave, acquiring the remaining 49% stake in the company it did not already own.

The solar supply chain will have to markedly adapt and change current solar shipping practices and overhaul utility-scale solar design models to accommodate next generation panels, industry stakeholders have said.

Ib vogt has sold its shareholding in its 64.1MWp ‘Infinity 50’ project, which makes up part of the Benban solar complex in Egypt, to Masdar.

Three months of marginal job creation means nearly 500,000 clean energy workers in the US remain unemployed as the sector struggles to recover from the impact of COVID-19.

The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has invited bids for a 100MWac/200MWp solar project with a 50MW/150MWh battery energy storage system in the state of Chhattisgarh.

US-based suppliers of Walmart will be able to contract for renewable energy as a cohort under a new initiative launched by the retailer alongside Schneider Electric.

JinkoSolar has supplied more than 600MW of modules for a utility-scale solar farm in Vietnam.

Solarpack increased its H1 operating revenues nearly three-fold (191%) year-on-year to €78.84 million (US$93.64 million), thanks in part to the commissioning of PV projects in Spain, Chile and India.

Aided by falling production costs and policies encouraging a shift to green energy, renewables’ share of the global energy mix could soar from 5% in 2018 to almost 60% by 2050, BP has said in its latest energy outlook.

Polysilicon manufacturer Daqo New Energy has submitted new documents regarding a potential initial public offering (IPO) to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, detailing how proceeds will be spent on new facilities.

Hangzhou First Applied Materials’ board has approved plans to increase its production capacity for PV films and backsheets.

Major polysilicon and merchant cell producer, Tongwei has secured a monocrystalline wafer supply deal from LONGi Green Energy (LONGi Group) that increases its wafer needs by 1 billion wafers to 2.6 billion as the cell producer plans to have more than 40GW of solar cell capacity in 2021.

A round-up of the latest solar industry news from around the world, as Aquila picks up its first solar projects in Portugal, one of Europe’s hottest solar markets, and Dehui lays claim to being Vietnam’s first module manufacturer to produce next-generation panels.

Several hundred megawatts of additional solar projects are set for completion in North and South Carolina in the next two years thanks to the resolution of a range of interconnection disputes.

PV equipment supplier RENA technologies has secured its largest ever single order from a major PV manufacturer in Asia as part of the customer's new 15GW PERC cell capacity expansion plans.

Both Vattenfall and Ørsted, two of Europe’s biggest renewables companies, will start next year with new bosses after the announcement of new chief executives this week.

Australia and Germany have joined forces to fund a feasibility study into the production, storage, transport and use of hydrogen from renewable energy.

Statkraft Ireland has picked up a 275MWdc portfolio of late-stage development solar projects in Ireland from Lightsource BP.

Solar parks with a total capacity of 2.3GW will be developed in Greece as part of a €5 billion (US$5.94 billion) roadmap to support the phase-out of coal generation by 2028.

Solar start-up Terabase Energy has closed a US$6 million Series A financing round, unveiling an aim to help drive down solar generation costs to below US$0.01/kWh by 2025.

US large-scale solar deployment stayed resilient throughout a pandemic-stricken Q2, but rooftop solar installs collapsed by nearly one-quarter as shelter-in-place orders dented activity.