With the release of second quarter financial results, the rankings of global module shipments in the first half of the year can be confirmed. JinkoSolar shipped 4.8 GW to take first place in this period.

By 2025, Taiwan aims to reach a cumulative installed solar PV capacity of 20 GW. However, by mid-2018, just 11.2% of this goal had been met. TrendForce analyst, Rhea Tsao, examines the situation and discusses what needs to be done to reach the target.

Module degradation tests are essential not only for effective plant operations, but also to ensure an optimum ROI. However, fixed laboratories, where such tests are usually carried out, involve transportation issues, while it is not always economically feasible to send in mobile laboratories. So how can degradation in these instances be measured? Leonardo Enrique Pérez Abreu, Technical Manager of the Testing & Optimization department at Enertis discusses this issue.

World Overshoot Day marks the day the world has used up its annual budget of the resources it could have sustainably consumed. Despite efforts in relevant sectors, the date is creeping forward every year. Twenty years ago, it was in late September.

India is currently the second largest market in the world for PV module demand. With China’s domestic demand frozen since the 31/5 notification, the country’s total module demand in 2018 will likely only achieve 32-34 GW. This will allow India, which may surpass 10 GW in annual demand, to reach 13% of global PV demand this year. As a result, the future of India’s trade war has become an influential factor in the global PV industry.

In the world of data centers, two developments have finally joined hands: The rapid increase in required computing power, and the energy transition. This is not only sustainable, but strong business cases are evolving, as was witnessed at this year’s The smarter E Europe in Munich.

Using a blockchain-based energy trading system, the company seeks to examine ways to bill customers in the best manner for them and prosumers. In light of the potential removal of export tariffs for small scale solar in the UK, the system could provide alternative remuneration for system owners. The trial will run for six months, with the possibility of extending it to two years.

With Theresa May’s government in full scale revolt this week over Brexit, the ECJ’s ruling that the European Commission wrongly failed to find fault with the UK capacity market mechanism four years ago, is likely to have Brexiteers on both sides of parliament frothing at the mouth with indignation.

The Norwegian oil producer has already partnered with Scatec on large-scale PV projects in Brazil and Argentina. The transaction cost $82.4 million.

Hanwha Q Cells is continuing its collaboration with CGN Power Group. The manufacturer is delivering its Q.Peak-G5 mono-crystalline PERC solar modules to a 150 MW site in China’s Hubei province.

The project, tendered by the Saudi authorities in February, will be built by a new company, which is 70% controlled by the energy giant and 30% by contractor AlGihaz Holding. The plant will sell power to the Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC) at SAR 0.08872 (US$0.0236) per kWh.

A conference held this week in London shed light on the U.K. Government’s timeline for reviewing its Capacity Market and Contracts for Difference schemes, and what the changes could mean for renewable – and specifically solar PV – energy projects.

Some 350 MW will be divided between wind and solar for projects of 500 kW to 10 MW in scale. The ceiling price for solar and wind has been set at $60/MWh.

The money will be used, among other things, to finance the construction of a 50 MW solar plant in Benguela province, in the west of the country.

The local transport provider wants generation facilities – almost certainly solar – across its 6,000 acres of land and roofs in the capital city, and hopes to break ground on the first sites within a year.

Yolk yesterday won the Aid Innovation challenge at the 2018 AidEX in Brussels. Using solar PV in a fun, novel manner, the Korean social enterprise has addressed major social problems in under-developed countries.

Researchers from the Rice University in Houston, Texas, have unveiled new findings in the field of organic photovoltaics (OPV).

Even in its low ball scenario, the International Energy Agency (IEA) imagines that installed solar PV capacity will overtake that of all other forms of energy apart from gas by 2040. Overall, it presents four scenarios in its 2018 World Energy Outlook, which show a changing energy landscape. While it finds that CO2 levels are, perversely, on the rise, and that many energy efforts in all but the most whimsical of its forecasts are far behind those needed to seriously address global warming, it still imagines coal, oil and gas playing a leading role in our energy mix going forward. It also sees “dramatic” transformation in the electricity sector. Long story short: Read something else if you want to take real climate action. We suggest The Drawdown.

A team of researchers from Germany’s Martin Luther University Halle Wittenberg has developed a new approach to perovskite cell production, which they say could result in better stability and longer lifetimes. The team also made detailed observation of the perovskite’s formation and decay, which could help to inform further research into high performance solar cells.

Companies keen to offset their carbon emissions will be able to purchase renewable energy certificates at Singapore’s first blockchain-powered marketplace, launched by electricity provider SP Group.

The Chinese-based manufacturer has closed a deal for the supply of its inverter solutions to the large-scale solar project in southern Vietnam. Sungrow says it has deployed a total of 1 GW of solar projects in Vietnam.

Around 34.5 GW of PV was installed in China in the first three quarters – 1.5 GW more than expected by IHS analysts, who have raised their full-year guidance.

The Federal Ministry of Economics has published further details of possible battery cell production on a gigawatt scale. At the Networking Conference Electromobility 2018 in Berlin this week, Minister Peter Altmaier stressed the urgency of the project, for Germany and Europe to be independent of Asia and the US in storage technology.

The German PV equipment provider saw sales increase by a third in the first three quarters of 2018. Full year 2018 guidance remains unchanged.

Despite a considerable increase in polysilicon sales, the Chinese manufacturer saw its turnover decline 7.5% year-on-year in the latest quarter.

The battery will be made by assembling 78 second life battery packs from Nissan’s electric Leaf vehicles. The project is expected to help resolve imbalances in the electrical system of the autonomous city and improve quality of supply.

The French Environment & Energy Management Agency (Ademe) has published a report in which analyzes the dynamics of lithium supply and demand in different scenarios of global electrification by 2050. The agency experts are convinced that only with a 75% penetration of electric vehicles there is the real risk of a marked decrease in the safety margin of lithium supply.

The Italian power provider has implemented its first pilot storage projects linked to solar. The system can provide grid services such as primary and secondary frequency regulation and tertiary and voltage regulation.

Once a leading European PV market, the Czech Republic may resume development of large-scale renewables from 2021. Only wind, hydro and biomass projects, however, will be eligible, under a proposal from the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Only rooftop solar, of up to 1 MW, would be backed by a ‘feed-in premium’ scheme.

The impressive growth is unlikely to replace coal-fired power generation as it will only be sufficient to cover the predicted increase in demand for electricity. The electrification of heating, manufacturing and transportation offer room for further development.