Policy

After Japan’s solar market got off to a flying start, a combination of policy headwinds and grid constraints has made the going much tougher. But with new market segments opening up and an electricity market reform process about to get underway the prospects for the world’s second largest PV market of 2015 still look strong.

The Indian city of Chandigarh is planning on becoming the second municipality in India to make rooftop solar mandatory on all buildings.

Japan’s solar FiT for the next financial year could be set at ¥24 (US$0.21) per kWh, while controversial curtailment rules to restrict output from PV plants have been applied on the southern island of Kyushu.

The Brazilian state of Minas Gerais is to hold an auction for solar energy in August this year requiring a total investment of more than BRL1 billion (US$253 million), according to the state's government.

The extension of solar investment tax credits (ITC) will support steady growth in US PV deployment, according to a new study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

India has released state-wide targets in order to achieve its newly revised Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPOs) of 17% by 2022.

The “extraordinary amount” of money Germany has spent transitioning away from fossil fuels and nuclear is looking increasingly like an investment in the country’s future competitiveness, according to the chief economist of the US Underwriters’ Laboratory.

India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has now approved a total of 33 solar parks in 21 states with a total capacity of 19.9GW.

Indian state-owned utility NTPC is collaborating with two German institutions, DLR Cologne and the Fraunhofer Institute of Solar Energy (ISE), on a number of solar research programmes.

French PV company EREN Renewable Energy and developer Access Infra Africa, a subsidiary of Access Power, have begun construction of a 10MW solar PV plant in Uganda, which will be the largest project in the Eastern region of Sub-Saharan Africa once complete.