Projects

Struggling former ‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) member Yingli Green Energy and Amtech Group’s Tempress Systems BV jointly opened what is claimed to be Europe’s largest bifacial PV solar plant next to the Tempress headquarters in Vaassen, the Netherlands.

Enel Green Power (EGP) has partnered with the Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems (IMM) of the National Research Council (NRC) to create a dedicated laboratory to explore renewable energy technologies, and in particular, develop bifacial PV modules.

SB Energy, a joint venture between Japanese tech firm Softbank, Bharti Enterprises and Foxconn Technology Group, has started operations at a 455MW solar project in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, according to a release from the module supplier Trina Solar.

News in Brief: Santa Barbara, California, is the 30th US city to vote in a 100% renewable energy mandate, North Carolina legislators instate a competitive bidding process and leasing programme for solar PV while South Carolina's SCE&G launches the state's largest community solar programme; there's also more community solar online in Texas, and the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources releases its final guidelines for its solar incentive SMART programme.

PV solar system provider First Solar has signed a syndicated development loan facility agreement of approximately US$64 million with Mizuho Bank.

A 30MW solar PV project in Tanzania is one of the winners of Access Power’s US$7 million Access Co-Development Facility (ACF).

Australia’s chief scientist Dr Alan Finkel has delivered his major energy review to the Australian government recommending various changes that will impact the solar PV sector.

Whilst African solar is still firmly an emerging market, investors have confirmed that issues remain with development finance, insofar as it is holding back the market from truly taking off. Whilst development finance institutions (DFIs) are a crucial part of allowing the market to find its feet, the continent’s economic infrastructure needs to move beyond the realm of development finance for commercial financiers to be enticed.

India’s first grid-scale solar-plus-storage tender has been held up by the extreme drop in the country’s solar PV prices this year, according to Rahul Walawalkar, executive director of the Indian Energy Storage Alliance.

Following on from the successful year for solar that was 2016, the US market added 2,044MW of new capacity in Q1 2017 alone. As installations grow, prices continue to fall to new lows and utility-scale system prices dropped below US$1/Watt for the first time according to GTM Research.