Danielle Ola

The Japanese subsidiary of leading ‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) member JinkoSolar has signed a cooperation agreement with Japanese EPC Quantum Power GK for 187MW of solar PV.

Struggling former ‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) member Yingli Green Energy and Amtech Group’s Tempress Systems BV jointly opened what is claimed to be Europe’s largest bifacial PV solar plant next to the Tempress headquarters in Vaassen, the Netherlands.

Enel Green Power (EGP) has partnered with the Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems (IMM) of the National Research Council (NRC) to create a dedicated laboratory to explore renewable energy technologies, and in particular, develop bifacial PV modules.

The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has put out a tender request for a 25MW hybrid solar-diesel-storage project in Sierra Leone.

News in Brief: Santa Barbara, California, is the 30th US city to vote in a 100% renewable energy mandate, North Carolina legislators instate a competitive bidding process and leasing programme for solar PV while South Carolina's SCE&G launches the state's largest community solar programme; there's also more community solar online in Texas, and the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources releases its final guidelines for its solar incentive SMART programme.

A 30MW solar PV project in Tanzania is one of the winners of Access Power’s US$7 million Access Co-Development Facility (ACF).

Nevada solar moved up in a big way earlier this week, with the state legislature passing several bills to ensure the industry will return to its former heights.

Whilst African solar is still firmly an emerging market, investors have confirmed that issues remain with development finance, insofar as it is holding back the market from truly taking off. Whilst development finance institutions (DFIs) are a crucial part of allowing the market to find its feet, the continent’s economic infrastructure needs to move beyond the realm of development finance for commercial financiers to be enticed.

Following on from the successful year for solar that was 2016, the US market added 2,044MW of new capacity in Q1 2017 alone. As installations grow, prices continue to fall to new lows and utility-scale system prices dropped below US$1/Watt for the first time according to GTM Research.

Breaking up Eskom’s monopoly in South Africa’s power market is not the answer to signing the outstanding PPAs under the country’s renewable energy procurement programme, a representative from the Department of Energy (DOE) has said.