Despite the "absolutely fantastic" progress in a year of tough market conditions, Bridge to India has said rooftop solar should be given more government support.
Kenya's government has launched a plan for total electrification in the country by 2022, which acknowledges the role that off-grid systems, mini-grids and stand-alone solar plants can have in complementing extensions to the grid and mitigating higher loads.
Myanmar-based off-grid PV company SolarHome has raised US$10 million in debt funding from a group of international investors, including Crowdcredit from Japan and Trine from Sweden, in order to expand across Myanmar.
UPDATED: A controversial House Bill granting private Filipino firm Solar Philippines a PV mini-grid and transmission franchise across the Philippines has all but passed through Congress, with only a procedural third step left to confirm the final draft of the Bill.
A pair of oil and gas giants, Algerian state-run company Sonatrach and Italy-based firm Eni, have inaugurated a 10MW solar PV project to power an oil field in Bir Rebaa North (BRN) in Algeria.
Australian firm Resolute Mining has signed an agreement with Africa-focused power developer Ignite Energy to set up a 40MW hybrid solar, battery and heavy fuel oil (HFO) plant at its Syama Gold Mine in Mali, according to an ASX filing.
While Filipino policymakers ponder a controversial bill that would allow a solar company to set up a micro-grid and transmission franchise aiming to improve power supply across the country, a small town on the island of Mindoro is already enjoying round-the-clock electricity for the first time ever.
Solar modules and deep cycle batteries have been stolen from seven secondary public schools in two municipalities in southern Palawan, in the Philippines.
The European Union has provided a grant of roughly €60 million to the Philippines government for the implementation of a programme that would expand access to clean electricity services and promote new energy efficiency strategies in remote areas.
The distributed renewable energy (DRE) sector, necessary in a world with millions of people without power, is being held back by a chronic shortage of skilled workers. Indeed, Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding South Africa) has just 16,000 people working in renewable energy in a region with 600 million un-electrified people, according to the founders of a new campaign aiming to fill this skills gap.
