The new 1 GW Yeka tender in Turkey is more than welcome, says KRC Consulting’s Hakki Karacaoglan and Life Enerji’s Ramazan Aslan. Regulations to enable “green electricity” tariffs, also announced this month, add further momentum to the country’s solar sector – allowing Turkish consumers choose renewable energy for their power supply.

In times of crisis, a population usually divides itself into two opinion groups. On the one hand, there are those who believe the storm will pass and things will return to business as usual. And on the other, there are those who took the time to embrace the new reality, accepted it, and now swear that the old world has disappeared and won’t ever come back. In general, writes Becquerel Institute’s Gaëtan Masson, reality splits between the two and makes everyone wrong. And this is what might be about to happen in the solar PV sector.

Some European countries and emerging markets are now showing signs of slow recovery, as the Covid-19 pandemic brought overseas markets to a shuddering halt in late March. However, demand is expected to remain weak through the beginning of the third quarter, writes PV InfoLink’s Amy Fang, as it will take time for overseas markets to snap back. Meanwhile, the Chinese market is again busy with the June 30 installation rush, as the government has left tariff timelines unchanged up to the middle of May.

Germany will assume the Presidency of the Council of the European Union on July 1 and will be responsible for progressing EU legislation over the next six months.

The PV inverter market achieved record shipments in 2019, writes IHS Markit’s Miguel de Jesus, driven by booming shipments in key markets such as the United States, Spain, Latin America, Ukraine and Vietnam. Revenue rose rapidly, surpassing the $9 billion mark in 2019 for the first time.

The Italian utility, fresh from securing its first 300 MW of PV generation capacity in the country in a recent, record-setting tender, has teamed up with the state-owned Norwegian Investment Fund to commit to further clean energy facilities in India.

The European Commission has outlined a long-anticipated plan it says could unlock up to €340 billion for new solar and wind projects over the next decade. The 30-year strategy envisages up to €470 billion being spent on electrolyzer capacity.

The latest PV finance report released by Mercom Capital had solar investment falling almost entirely across the board with the number of new solar funds launched in the last three months offering a rare piece of good news.

Plus, there was plenty of hope in predictions made by Norwegian institute DNV GL but U.S. households are facing hefty energy bills just as data from Delhi showed the link between industrial shutdowns and cleaner skies.

The Korean company has committed to invest in solar innovation in Germany at a time when the EU and member states are desperately trying to kick-start the Covid-19 recovery.

Solar workforce development can help combat systemic racism in the industry.

The national utility has signed an agreement with the Total-owned Qair business formerly known as Quadran International for a 200 kW floating solar power plant and a study of Tunisian potential for the technology.

A wide-ranging joint report published by the Democratic presidential candidate and his former rival includes the section: ‘Undoing the harms of the Trump administration and righting the wrongs.’

The furniture brand has begun offering solar panels and systems online throughout the country. French solar company Voltalia will be its strategic partner for the sale of its Solstrale modules.

The long-awaited procurement exercise includes 250 MW of generation capacity originally intended to be tendered last year.

Dutch researchers have shown that power peaks caused by solar generation may be stronger under partial cloudiness than clear skies. According to their findings, mixed-cloud conditions can enhance PV power production due to light reflected off clouds, as well as their intermittent shadows on arrays, which reduce module temperatures.

The steel manufacturer aims to sign power purchase agreements for six operational sites in Vanderbijlpark, Newcastle, Vereeniging, Pretoria, Thabazimbi and Saldanha.

The regulations will force power distributors to give more help to homeowners and businesses willing to go solar. The new framework will apply to PV systems ranging in size from 1 kW-2 MW and to all energy consumers.

A technique proposed by scientists in the United Stated could raise solar plant output 5% and decrease panel degradation by more than 0.3% per year, according to the researchers. The approach is based on wind direction and speed, and module inclination.

The Swedish PV equipment supplier has launched Midsummer Magnum, a solar module for large rooftops. The manufacturer says the panel offers 14.54% efficiency and an output of 128.3 W per square meter. The company also unveiled a manufacturing process it claims can increase module output 10%.

Australian researchers have revealed a new cell that builds on an earlier 24.4%-efficient device. The upgrade was achieved with an oxide-nitride-oxide passivation stack which optimized diffusion and contact-area fraction, plus improved texturing with a monoTEX surfactant.

LF Energy has launched its Digital Substation Automation Systems initiative, in hopes of creating a more modular, flexible and resilient grid. It aims to make interoperable substations that are both hardware and software agnostic.

Scientists led by the University of Cambridge have developed a new method to print a protective layer of copper directly onto a perovskite solar cell, providing protection to the active layer from damage often caused in later production stages. Cells using this layer were tested in various tandem combinations with silicon cells and achieved a maximum efficiency of 24.4%.

SunCrafter is a small German startup with a global ambition: to alleviate energy poverty by upcycling used solar PV modules. Having established an innovative business model, which sees it subsidizing its goals by meeting the infrastructure needs of big events and festivals, it has now partnered with EU-funded project Circusol to demonstrate the viability of circular renewables. pv magazine interviewed SunCrafter CEO and co-founder Lisa Wendzich as part of the UP initiative’s circular manufacturing quarterly theme.

A cell interconnection method developed by a Swedish company promises lower-cost and higher-throughput production of PERC and more advanced silicon PV modules. The process is ready to move to pilot production, and its creators want to play a role in the anticipated European solar manufacturing renaissance.

Production of highly efficient solar cells and modules will start at two sites in Germany from the first half of 2021. The Swiss tech group plans to eventually expand annual production to 5 GW.

The Brazilian power grid reaches approximately 99% of the country’s population. To connect the remaining 1% has been challenging – often located in isolated communities of regions that are difficult to reach. With increasing global adoption of solar+storage, and significant price drops across the two technologies over the past decade, the solution is showing promise for the remote Brazilian market. Solar+storage is becoming a more competitive solution than its most popular alternative – diesel – to supply the needed power for off-grid communities. And now, even grid-connected residential properties are opting for independence.

The new president of Huawei’s Smart PV Business Unit, Chen Guoguang, talks to pv magazine about his new role in the company and the future of his division. Increased investment in smart PV R&D and technological innovation are at the top of the agenda. The intelligentization of energy products is also a priority, with much to be gained from the integration of information and communications technologies (ICT) and energy.

Plus, equipment manufacturer Shangji Automation is set to enter the silicon ingot making game with plans for an 8 GW fab, while state-owned developer Panda Green says it plans to add 500 MW of annual project capacity over the next three years.

Hevel Group has announced it will source all the 65 GWh required annually to run its Novocheboksarsk factory from renewables sources via the wholesale market.

Also, a court in Beijing is now reviewing an application for bankruptcy filed by a unit of Hanergy. In other developments this week, a diverse range of solar industry players launched the 600W+ Photovoltaic Open Innovation Ecological Alliance.

Equatorial Power and SustainSolar are installing containerized, off-grid solar battery power systems to support farming projects on an island in Lake Kivu.

Startup Natron Energy is building a battery using Prussian blue analogue electrodes and a sodium-ion electrolyte. Investors include ABB Technology Ventures, NanoDimension Capital, Volta Energy Technologies, Chevron, Khosla Ventures, and Prelude Ventures.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency is putting US$1.66 million into a vehicle-to-grid trial to demonstrate how electric vehicles can provide grid ancillary services. The REVS research and industry consortium hopes to show how EVs can generate revenue for fleet owners.

Scientists led by MIT have suggested chitin, a carbon and nitrogen-rich material made from waste shrimp shells, could produce sustainable electrodes for vanadium redox flow batteries and other energy storage technologies.