Europe

Making investment decisions based on an entire renewable energy portfolio, rather than the merits of an individual project, is now the norm.

Octopus Energy has announced an investment of 'nearly' US$1 billion into Californian clean energy, including a solar-plus-storage project.

Data collection and analysis in solar PV installations is increasingly sophisticated, particularly relating to grid interaction and weather forecasting.

'Advanced forecasting tools are already improving solar and demand predictions by over 30%,' writes Schneider Electric's Frédéric Godemel.

There is ‘no way around AI’ for solar companies or Europe’s solar industry as a whole, according to Walburga Hemetsberger, CEO of SolarPower Europe.

Quality assurance provider Intertek has acquired Aerial PV Inspection, a specialist in drone-enabled solar site inspections.

Fixed-tilt trackers and bifacial modules installed vertically could be the most effective way of deploying PV systems in Arctic environments.

Chinese manufacturers dominate PV Tech Research’s new inverter bankability rating report, but recent EU and US policies targeting Chinese-made inverters may create opportunities for other companies.

A 77.5MW PV plant in Estonia is to be coupled with a 55MW/250MWh battery energy storage system to create what is claimed will be the country’s largest hybrid project.

EIB is investing US$40 million to construct and operate three PV plants in southwestern Romania, with a combined capacity of 190MW.