The second Solar and Off-Grid Renewables West Africa event in Ghana in April heard mixed views on the progress of solar in the region. But with the first projects reaching completion and others moving forward, brighter times seem to be around the corner. Tom Kenning reports
The European Commission has withdrawn Chinese solar panel manufacturer Shinetime China and its related company in the EU, Shinetime Europe, from the EU-China price undertaking.
This year saw Ghana not only install the largest solar project in East and West Africa, but also a major 30MW module manufacturing facility near its capital, Accra, in what is a major milestone for the upstream solar sector across Africa. PV Tech visited the plant to understand some of developer 3SIL's thinking behind location and business.
Major Photovoltaics Energy Provider (PVEP) SunPower has achieved has set a new PV module conversion efficiency record of 24.1%, using laboratory made IBC-based solar cells that has been verified by the US Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
Leading thin-film module manufacuturer First Solar revealed its new-to-the-market and highly-anticipated Series 5 thin-film PV module at Intersolar last week.
The prospect of the ‘commoditisation’ of lithium-ion batteries is not likely to be as clear-cut as has been seen in the PV industry, one manufacturer has said.
Stringent energy efficiency rules for buildings would make it “almost a no-brainer” to integrate PV at time of construction and would “change the whole cost equation”, solar analyst Finlay Colville has said.
