Japan’s residential and small commercial solar industry could represent a “huge, huge opportunity” for suppliers of inverters and module-level power electronics, according to an analyst with market research firm IHS.
Deregulation of the Japanese electricity market, expected to begin next year, could “breathe new life into PV”, according to Shawn Qu, chief executive and chairman of Canadian Solar.
Chinese tier one manufacturer Trina Solar will supply PV modules to ‘Marcovia Solar’, a 42.5MW solar farm in Honduras which is scheduled to go online during the second quarter of this year.
India’s solar manufacturing sector appears to have received a boost, with solar cell manufacturer Indosolar signing a wafer supply agreement worth US$200 million with Korean company Osung.
The Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has drafted guidelines to install 2GW of new solar PV generation capacity through the current phase of the country’s National Solar Mission (JNNSM).
Japan’s electric utility companies that had stopped considering applications for utility-scale solar look set to resume doing so, although projects will be subjected to stricter new rules.
Japan will produce definitive targets for renewable energy this year, according to a government official. The country’s government has taken criticism from pro-renewable energy groups for not doing so previously.
Project developer Welspun Renewables has confirmed it will build a 100.1MW solar farm in Andhra Pradesh (AP) during a session at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
One international developer of utility-scale PV projects says that proposed changes to Japan’s feed-in tariff (FiT) will not adversely affect business over the next two years, but certain aspects of those changes will be “challenging” to cope with.
