In the second of a series of four blogs, solar pioneer Philip Wolfe lists the world’s largest solar parks. In these articles, a ‘solar park’ is defined as a group of co-located solar power plants.

With market penetration exceeding expectations in 2018, bifacial technology is set to account for one third of global solar module production by 2022, writes Edurne Zoco, Research Director at IHS Markit. Bifacial and half-cell technologies are rapidly gaining momentum due to their improvements in power output, along with their low implementation barriers and minimal capex requirements

An historic new report from Energy Watch shows that we can reach 100% renewable energy in just a few decades, and it’s affordable; making this the clear answer to tackling climate change.

On April 30, China’s National Development and Reform Commission released the “Improving Issues Related to Feed-in Tariffs for Solar Photovoltaic” notice, the first document that confirms the level of FIT payments for solar projects following several consultation papers issued previously this year. The new FIT rates are set to be effective starting July 1.

In the first of a short series of blogs, solar energy pioneer Philip Wolfe highlights the differences between solar farms, solar parks and clusters, in order to identify the world’s largest solar power stations.

The nation’s renewable energy legislation will be updated to expand net metering for projects connected to the medium voltage grid, paving the way for a wave of decentralized installations.

An energy finance consultant from the international thinktank has added his voice to demands Theresa May, or her successor, spell out exactly how the decarbonization target will be met, and cited failings on solar as a warning on how not to proceed.

It is not just the big beasts of Chinese solar that are investing in aggressive expansion as high-efficiency wafer maker NorSun and tracker supplier GameChange Solar make big announcements. The New York company, however, may fall foul of President Trump’s America First trade mantra by opening production lines in the Far East.

Initially, the company will construct a 16 GWh factory plus a joint venture fab with Volkswagen in Germany, which will also have a throughput of 16 GWh. Both factories could be extended to tap further into the large market for battery cells in Europe.

Federal trade authorities have ruled that bifacial solar modules are no longer subject to the Section 201 ruling, which currently apply a 25% tariff to most solar modules imported to the United States.

Representatives of the UK solar industry have praised prime minister Theresa May’s plan to amend the 2008 Climate Change Act with a 2050 net zero emissions target while urging the government to articulate how it will achieve its goal. In particular, the industry has pointed to the need to eliminate barriers that continue to hinder deployment of solar and battery storage systems.

A representative of South Africa’s energy regulator said deals signed between 2011 and 2013 must be subject to lower tariffs to ease the financial crisis at national utility Eskom. The suggestion failed to convince delegates at an Africa Energy Forum panel discussion in Lisbon, however.

Leaving with a last hurrah, Brexit casualty prime minister Theresa May has announced a statutory instrument to amend the Climate Change Act of 2008. The law currently prescribes an emissions cut of 80% by 2050, from a 1990 baseline. The new law will aim for net zero emissions by 2050, making the U.K. the first G7 nation to pass such legislation.

Flying in the face of claims the rise of China’s clean energy sector undermines the security of developed nations and harms the profitability of their businesses, a research paper argues such a view is outdated and ill-advised. It presents four opportunities for Western players to tap ‘Green China Inc’.

The 21st Africa Energy Forum, this year in Lisbon, kicked off yesterday and will run until Friday. The meeting offers an insight into the continent’s energy markets.

The Chinese PV manufacturer uses TOPCon half cells for the modules. The additional rear side yield is estimated by Trina at 5-30%.

A report on the prospects for a mooted $2.6tn electric vehicle market over the next decade says PHEVs – part electric, part gas-guzzling – are already losing market share rapidly to pure electric rivals, and will be extinct by 2030.

Winfried Wahl, head of product management at Longi Solar spoke to pv magazine about how the HiMo4 has a 15% higher power output than the previous iteration in the series.

Rodrigo Sauaia, CEO of Brazilian solar energy association ABSOLAR, analyzes the chances of PV in this year’s two energy auctions in which it can compete. But it is not all about auctions, Sauaia tells pv magazine, there are 2 GW of solar projects under development for which bilateral PPAs may be signed, and hundreds of MW worth of such schemes that have already secured contracts.

Projects with capacity 10-50 MW can compete for grid connection with a voltage of 15-60 kV. Projects applying for a connection with a higher voltage will have to have more than 50 MW of generation capacity.

Stock in the polysilicon manufacturer appeared to be recovering in early trading on the Oslo exchange this morning after it cancelled plans for a private placement of as many as 50 million shares.

There was significant opposition to the re-appointment of three executives at today’s AGM, suggesting unease at a strategy that involves loading ever more debt onto the manufacturer as it bids to rapidly outgrow its rivals in terms of production capacity.

The polysilicon and wafer maker has been busy raising cash of late by indulging in a fire sale of project assets. With plans for ever larger production capacities to fund, it has now announced the issue of new shares amounting to more than 8% of the existing stock.

While lacking the swarming crowds of previous years, the 2019 SNEC in Shanghai remained a focal point of the global PV industry when it comes to industrial solar cell and module manufacturing and technology. Here are five hot technology takeaways from the pv magazine team on the show floor and conference sessions.

A research paper from scientists at the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory outlines a new approach to the production of gallium arsenide based cells. The approach, termed ‘germanium on nothing’, could enable the cost effective, high volume production of PV cells based on III-V materials such as gallium arsenide.

The government is considering financial incentives such as import and export duty waivers to woo battery manufacturers to set up a globally competitive manufacturing base in India.

The launch of the U.K. Smart Export Guarantee regime today failed to include a price floor – as predicted by trade body the STA – but the government did not rule out future intervention. Commercial customers, however, still have no way of securing payment for their excess power.

Hello hydrogen! A number of factors are floating renewably powered hydrogen to the top of the agenda for worldwide energy ministers. Australia is among the countries most favourably placed to turn hydrogen hype into the biggest source of decarbonized energy the world has yet seen.

Following the launch of the Indian government’s 40 GW battery production plan for the states, Telangana has pitched for a 5 GW lithium ion plant by announcing the ready availability of 200 acres of land plus power and water for the fab at a concessional rate.

That goal could easily be achieved judging by the company’s first-quarter results, Qiao said during an interview with pv magazine at Intersolar Europe. He also pronounced himself happy with Growatt’s performance in TÜV testing and with progress in the hybrid inverter segment.