The regulations for protected species and the procedure to obtain a derogation are complex and should not be understated by solar PV project developers. The avoidance of the significant risks linked with those regulations requires technical and legal expertise, and support from the very beginning of the development of the project, write lawyers Anouk Darcet-Felfen and Laurence Duriez.

The concept of revamping and repowering is one of the newest terms in the solar industry. As the installed base of PV systems ages, the concept of upgrading and improving operating plants becomes increasingly relevant to both manufacturers and PV plant asset managers. However, the real market size for new PV components in existing plants will depend on the characteristics of each plant, the overall regulatory framework and the economic benefits that will accrue to asset managers.

The Taiwanese Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) has announced a 10.17% decrease to next year’s feed-in tariff (FIT) rates for solar PV installations, which is much higher than the average decrease of 4.25% in the global PV industry. This will make 2019 a tough year for Taiwan’s PV industry, with wider-than-expected impacts on the whole market.

On November 2, China’s National Energy Administration held a symposium to evaluate the results of the 13th Five-Year Plan for solar PV development at its halfway point, discussing the adjustment of PV and thermal generation targets in the plan. As a result of this, there is renewed positivity regarding China’s domestic solar demand in 2019-2020.

Solar PV has come a long way as a power generation technology. As highlighted in SolarPower Europe’s Global Market Outlook for 2018 to 2022, solar added 98 GW of net generation capacity last year, eclipsing all other forms of electricity generation. But solar needs to do a lot more, and to do it very soon if we want to limit greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and keep global warming to below 1.5°C from pre-industrial levels.

The Brazilian module maker expects to start construction of a factory in the state of Tocantins in the second half of the year. The project is receiving support from the local ministry of environment.

Through the procurement, now at the pre-qualification stage, Moroccan state-owned utility ONE aims to build seven large-scale PV plants in the south and east of the country. German development bank KfW is a partner in the project.

Danish developer European Energy has secured a 12-year agreement from Axpo Italia, the local unit of Swiss energy provider Axpo. Around half the 300 MW of solar projects the company is developing in Italy are now ready to build.

Togo, Mauritius and Guyana will all receive backing for solar projects in the latest round of funding from the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development-IRENA Project Facility.

In the U.K., systems bigger than 50 MW fall under the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects regime and require special permitting. With the aim of optimizing the market for higher storage penetration, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is holding a consultation until March 25 to determine whether to retain the 50 MW threshold.

Known as the “roof of the world,” the scenic Ladakh region of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir could soon host the world’s largest single-location PV plant.

Topping off a great week for the British next generation utility platform, BBOXX won the Zayed Energy Prize after receiving funding from the Africa Infrastructure Investment Managers fund to speed up roll out of its platform in Rwanda, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The large-scale IPP project will be developed at a landfill site. The plant is part of the kingdom’s plan to deploy 255 MW of solar by 2025.

The procurement exercise, intended for the deployment of large-scale projects across three locations, was to have been held on January 29. The tender will be re-issued this year – and it may include storage.

The amount of new PV added by Greece in 2018 is tiny but signals the sector has been restarted, mainly thanks to renewable energy tenders. However, significant challenges remain when it comes to meeting a 2020 solar energy target.

IRENA says technologies for 3D rooftop footprint generation and solar irradiation modelling are becoming increasingly cheap, making them suitable for deployment anywhere in the world. Developing cities across Africa and Asia could access such technical resources to plan rooftop PV development.

With 4.3 GW of utility-scale solar and 3.9 of distributed generation predicted, the figures collated from federal sources don’t take account of the huge capacity of solar projects waiting in the interconnection queues of seven grid operators.

The International Renewable Energy Agency has plotted the potentially dramatic impacts of a global transition to renewable energy from fossil fuels. Today’s A New World report notes the transition requires international cooperation to manage disruption, as it will leave behind countries and industries that fail to adapt.

Scientists are seeking to push ion migration to areas of perovskite-based solar cells where more electric charge can be extracted.

At a storage fair in Dusseldorf, researchers will present a ceramic high-temperature battery. Storage costs using sodium-nickel-chloride battery cells are said to be 50% lower than those of lithium-ion.

The Dutch PV equipment provider will supply 15 vacuum coating systems for a planned 500 MW production capacity of cadmium telluride thin film modules. The value of the contract is more than €40 million.

French BIPV glass manufacturer Sunpartner is seeking buyers for its two businesses after starting insolvency proceedings due to the lack of short-term funding.

The German subsidiary of the Chinese Chint Group will be restructured. The German site will in future focus on marketing and sales as well as areas such as customer care, logistics, customs clearance and other business-related services for European and global customers. More than 200 of the 230 employees will lose their jobs when production stops.

The thin-film manufacturer, developer and maker of the Humbrella, HanTile and HanWall made 78th position in a ranking of China’s Top 500 companies, an improvement on last year’s 91st place, to lead the six solar-linked businesses on the list.

Energy trend and PV Info Link assume little movement in prices for silicon, wafers, solar cells and modules in the coming weeks. The capacity adjustments of solar manufacturers, however, are set to continue.

The German car giant has created Elli, a subsidiary that will provide green power and charging solutions for the EV sector. Volkswagen – still haunted by the diesel emissions scandal – says it wants to make mobility sustainable.

The funds will be used to implement the Sindh Solar Energy Project, a scheme aimed at increasing solar power generation and access to electricity in Sindh province.

A competition backed by public funding from the governments of the two nations is seeking proposals for projects that will help electricity grids transition to clean and flexible energy.

The Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has proposed a replacement for the flat rate FIT payment regime that is hard to argue with, as it is linked to the actual amount of electricity exported back into the grid.

The US electric car maker wants to start production of its Model 3 in the Chinese factory. Next year, according to high-profile CEO Elon Musk, mass production of electric cars will start there.