The second annual German government-backed event promoting discussion and exchanges of views on Energiewende ('energy transition'), the nationwide policy which has catapulted the country into a leading position on renewable energies including PV, begins today.
Recharge A/S, an investment fund specialising in renewables, will take a 50.1% stake in a €24 million (US$26.7 million) micro grid on a remote Portuguese island that could prove the validity of such projects as an asset class.
In common with every other PV market in the world as it matures, attaining grid parity for the technology is the ultimate goal for Japan. As an electricity market in general, meeting electrical supply with demand will of course become ever-more important.
Japan's government has given its clearest indication to date of planned rule changes around renewable energy policy, including official confirmation that a tender process is being put before its parliament for the 2017 financial year.
Japan's PV industry is changing fast. The feed-in tariff has brought about over 30GW of installed capacity, with large-scale solar outnumbering residential by about 10 to one. Ahead of this week's PV Expo in Tokyo, Andy Colthorpe takes a look at some of the issues expected to dominate.
Just hours after Taiwanese electronics maker Foxconn looked poised to buy a majority stake in Japan’s Sharp, the deal has been delayed, according to various reports.
After Japan’s solar market got off to a flying start, a combination of policy headwinds and grid constraints has made the going much tougher. But with new market segments opening up and an electricity market reform process about to get underway the prospects for the world’s second largest PV market of 2015 still look strong.
Lichtblick, a retailer of ‘green electricity and green gas’ headquartered in Germany, is looking to take its concept for integrating multiple distributed generation sources into a single network into international markets.
Japan’s solar FiT for the next financial year could be set at ¥24 (US$0.21) per kWh, while controversial curtailment rules to restrict output from PV plants have been applied on the southern island of Kyushu.
The “extraordinary amount” of money Germany has spent transitioning away from fossil fuels and nuclear is looking increasingly like an investment in the country’s future competitiveness, according to the chief economist of the US Underwriters’ Laboratory.
