This year saw Ghana not only install the largest solar project in East and West Africa, but also a major 30MW module manufacturing facility near its capital, Accra, in what is a major milestone for the upstream solar sector across Africa. PV Tech visited the plant to understand some of developer 3SIL's thinking behind location and business.
Solar capacity grew by 47GW (26%) during 2015 as a result of module prices dropping as much as 80% over the same period, according to the latest data from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
Solar developer and private asset manager Capital Dynamics has selected module manufacturer ET Solar to provide modules for 14 solar projects in North Carolina in the US with a combined capacity of 84.4MW.
PV module manufacturer SolarWorld has started producing its first bifacial Bisun modules at its US manufacturing facility in order to test their capability against standard modules using advanced p-type mono-PERC cell architecture.
Singapore-based renewable energy developer and investor Equis has commissioned a 132.5MW solar project, which it claims is Southeast Asia’s largest PV plant, in Cadiz City, Negros Occidental, the Philippines.
A consortium between India-based integrated utility and solar developer Essel Infra and China-based PV material manufacturer Golden Concord Holdings (GCL) has signed a memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Andhra Pradesh government to invest US$2 billion in developing 5GW of module manufacturing capacity by 2020 in the Indian state.
A 45.6MW DC solar farm in northern Japan has been switched on by Japanese financial services group Orix Corporation and its joint venture (JV) partner Sharp.
The Government of India is considering supporting polysilicon, ingot and wafer production in India as part of prime minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ programme, that was launched last year.
