The US-headquartered high-efficiency solar panel maker is to spin off most of its manufacturing operations into a separate public listed entity, Maxeon Solar, which will include monocrystalline silicon wafer producer, Tianjin Zhonghuan Semiconductor (TZS) as an investor.
The project will be contracted to Coal India Ltd's subsidiary South Eastern Coalfields Ltd for 25 years, and help the coal major reach its national aim of becoming a "net-zero energy company."
State subsidies, development and private capital will bankroll 11 solar plants, 10 wind plants and 80-metre-wide grid in radiation-damaged prefecture, according to local reports.
Low-cost perovskite, cadmium telluride cells, PV field factories and grid integration of solar-plus-storage among research schemes bagging US$128m DoE funds after import barriers were tightened.
Costs have tumbled to such an extent that new-build LCOEs are catching up with marginal costs of non-renewables, says firm in update that finds storage is too becoming more competitive.
WoodMac: Coal’s bleak future and nuclear shutdowns mean milestone lies within reach Europe-wide even if UK could overshoot it while France, Spain, Italy, Germany miss it.
In other Golden State developments, LA City Council green lights 8minute's 400MW/1,200MWh solar-plus-storage hybrid, set to supply utility LADWP starting 2022.
Heidelberg-based firm turns to Southern European state for first unsubsidised solar venture after deploying conventional projects in Germany and the UK.
Figures from energy watchdog RAE show latest PV-specific tender has triggered 148.64MW in bids, down from the 287.11MW pot of contracts offered by Athens.