More than 7.7 million people were employed in the renewables industry in 2014, an 18% rise from 6.5 million the previous year, according to a new report from the International renewable energy agency (IRENA).
The amount of solar capacity installed in the US is forecast to nearly double to 40GW by 2017, up from 20GW in 2014, according to a new video report from the US Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).
SolarEdge, one of only two companies at present to produce Tesla Powerwall-compatible inverters, will launch its expanded range of residential and commercial solutions at Intersolar Europe next month.
Four international companies have been awarded 50MW solar PV projects under Jordan’s Round 2 solar PPA tender, with industry bodies hoping the results will help the Middle East solar market take off.
Major tier-one PV manufacturer JA Solar said it was building a 400MW solar cell plant in Penang, Malaysia as well as adding capacity for high-performance monocrystalline and multicrystalline cells and modules, while establishing a JV module partnership with Essel in India.
Tier one module supplier Hanwha Q CELLS connected two new solar plants with a total capacity of 45MW in the UK prior to the country’s 1.4 Renewable Obligation Certificate deadline.
Latin America is forecast to install 2.2GW of PV in 2015, a 352% increase from 625MW in 2014, according to the recently released “Q1 2015 Latin American PV Playbook” report from GTM Research.
European solar power services company Photon Energy claims an emphasis on new business areas including operations and maintenance (O&M), opened up new revenue streams to boost its group performance in the past quarter.