Utility solar systems in the US offer significant cost and environmental benefits over rooftop residential PV systems due to higher electric output and economies of scale, research suggests.
Public market financing of solar companies reached a record US$2.3 billion in the second quarter of 2015, bucking an overall downward trend in corporate solar funding during Q2.
Bluefield European Solar Fund (BESF), a new solar investment vehicle to be advised by Bluefield Partners, has announced its intention to list on the London Stock Exchange and raise €200 million (US$220 million) for PV acquisitions.
Developer Sky Solar has announced that the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has approved US$55.7 million loan to finance the construction, operation and maintenance of six PV plants and their connected facilities in Uruguay. The China Co-Financing Fund and the Canadian Climate Fund for the Private Sector, both led by IDB, will also offer additional loans of US$19.3 million and US$10 million, respectively.
Solar companies in the Philippines are planning to push the country’s government to quadruple the amount of solar qualifying for its feed-in tariff scheme, according to reports.
Australia’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has been told by Prime Minister Tony Abbott that it can no longer invest in rooftop solar and wind projects.
Investment in small-scale solar during the second quarter of 2015 was up 29% on the previous year, going against a ‘lag’ in investments in clean energy globally, according to new Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) figures.
Renewables including solar are expected to account for 26% of total microgrid capacity in the US by 2020, up from just 6% today, according to GTM Research’s latest report.
