Europe

WElink Energy has started construction of a 221MW solar PV plant in Portugal that will not benefit from subsidies.

US-headquartered engineering and consultancy firm Black & Veatch and engineering services, and certification testing lab, Renewable Energy Test Center (RETC) in California, said they would establish the first of its kind bifacial solar module ranking service.

Single-axis solar tracker firm Soltec, headquartered in Spain said it expects to double its turnover and supply more than 1.1GW of trackers in 2017.

EDF Energies Nouvelles and steel maker ArcelorMittal Méditerranée have commissioned a 12MW solar plant in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region of south-eastern France.

Solar trade association SolarPower Europe has updated its global solar demand forecast for 2017, expecting to reach the 100GW level for the first time.

International solar PV systems integrator Phoenix Solar has lowered its full-year revenue guidance a second time but added a profit warning as delays in project approvals increase due to the US ITC ‘Section 201’ trade case creating market uncertainty.

PV Tech talked with PV Lighthouse’s Malcolm Abbot ahead of PV ModuleTech 2017, being held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 7-8 November 2017. Malcolm will be a guest speaker at the event.

SunPower announced that it will supply 291MW of its solar panels to projects awarded under the second round of France’s CRE tender process.

China-based PV energy provider (PVEP) Panda Green Energy Group has reached a milestone of over 1.5GW of grid-connected solar assets with a recent acquisition of a 50MW grid-connected solar power plant in Inner Mongolia.

Electricity and heat generator and retailer Vattenfall is developing a third party model for energy storage deployment, which will see the Swedish firm deploy batteries alongside UK solar farms.