The Indian government is promoting small-scale solar and wind hybrid systems (SWES) in rural areas without electricity through a new programme following the success of similar projects in the US and Europe.
Small-scale technology certificates (STCs) were created for 10,487 solar PV systems, totalling 56.3MW capacity, in Australia in April, but this fell well below the STC targets set by the regulator.
Brazilian public bank Banco do Nordeste (Northeast Bank) has expanded the financing options available from its Northeast Constitutional Financing Fund (FNE) to include solar PV projects, wind farms, small hydro and biomass sources utilization plants.
Global maker of construction and mining equipment Caterpillar has launched an integrated micro-grid solution which combines solar PV and energy storage with the company’s power generation equipment.
India’s Ministry of new and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is moving forward with its off-grid solar programme, as part of the National Solar Mission (NSM), after a year of the utility-scale sector stealing the limelight.
Off-grid solar specialist Nova-Lumos has received a £150,000 grant from the SolarNigera Programme (SNP), an initiative of the UK’s Department for International Development (DfID) implemented by Adam Smith International, to help accelerate its operations in northern Nigeria.
Remote schools in West Africa can suffer from high levels of dropouts, a lack of enthusiasm and low rates of literacy and numeracy, but solar technology is now offering a chance to reinvigorate some of the lowest performing schools. PV Tech visited a school that is benefiting from such solar and software installations in the Greater Accra region of Ghana.
On Friday in New York, the historic UN global climate agreement was officially signed by a host of world leaders, signifying the unified global effort to tackle one of the world’s most insurmountable environmental and economic issues.
Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy firm Masdar has launched four utility-scale clean energy projects as well as thousands of residential solar systems in remote areas across Egypt.
