The European Council’s response to proposed European Commission reforms suggests that rules supportive of virtual net metering could be scrapped after pressure from Germany.

The latest in a series of high profile renewable energy acquisitions for the French energy giant, ENGIE has announced the acquisition of a 100% stake in Fenix International, a U.S. company active in the residential lease-to-own sector in several African countries.

The report, published in Energy Access Outlook: from Poverty to Prosperity, is the first instance of this sort of historical analysis, with this particular study looking at 140 countries and showing that the number of people without electricity fell to 1.1 billion in 2016, down from 1.6 billion in 2000.

Fortum will collaborate with NBCC, India to develop 150 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in India over the next 18 months, while ABB has bid for the tender to provide 4,500 charging stations across the country.

Senegalese government issues open tender for solar projects with a combined storage capacity of 100 MW in the Diourbel, Kaoack, and Fatick regions of the country.

The Spanish inverter specialist is to supply solar farms being built in Malaysia by Norway’s Scatec Solar, which in turn is working with local ITRAMAS-led consortium on three 21-year PPAs with the country’s largest electricity utility, Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB).

In the auction, El Salvador’s energy regulator CNE will select large-scale solar and biogas power projects. Meanwhile, PV is bringing down power tariffs in the country.

Through this transaction, the Israel-based solar company has raised the capacity of its PV plant portfolio to 39.5 MW.

The PV plant Huatacondo will be located 100 kilometers south of Pozo Almonte, in the Chilean region of Tarapacá.

Saga Energy, a part of Taiwan’s Delta Group, has inked a €2.5 billion deal to construct 2 GW of solar PV in Iran, working alongside local partner Amin Energy. Company also hopes to build module fab in the country.

A team from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia has published research into heterojunction solar cells using alternative materials to silicon. The researchers hope that the process they developed could simplify the fabrication of solar cells.

Scientists of the University of Florence claim that graphene-based electron transport layers (ETL) achieve higher carrier injection with respect to most commonly used ETLs.

HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Company (DEWA) announced that the firm has launched a new wholly owned investment subsidiary. It is called Jumeirah Energy International Silicon Valley Company and, as the name entails, is found in the Silicon Valley in California.

Dutch solar-powered car, with an average speed of 69 km/h and a carrying capacity of up to five people, has been hailed as the future of solar powered cars after competing in World Solar Challenge.

Kangping Chen, the CEO of Chinese solar manufacturer JinkoSolar, speaks to pv magazine about the company’s solar technology development, the efficacy of half-cut solar cells, and the future of the PV industry.

The Mississippi-based CIGS manufacturer cites “intense” competition from imports.

The Japanese equipment provider also reported an increase in sales of 19.2% for fiscal year 2017. In the machinery business, the company said, all of sales of the large-scale deal were booked as planned.

The high-efficiency solar maker asks for Section 201 action to include First Solar’s thin film products, but to exclude its back contact crystalline silicon solar as a unique product.

Three of Taiwan’s largest solar cell and module manufacturers – Gintech, Neo Solar Power and Solartech – will suspend common stock transactions next week, prompting rumors that a merger between the three firms could be on the cards.

SOMERA series uses PERC monocrystalline solar cells reaching module area efficiency up to 19.05% (for 60 cells) and up to 18.45% (for 72 cells).

AES Dominicana’s 20 MW storage system helped maintain the power grid operational during the passage of Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

Chinese shipments of lithium-ion batteries could jump by 40% year on year in 2017, but demand from the country’s burgeoning electric-vehicle market continues to overshadow the deployment of stationary energy storage systems (ESS), according to a recent report.

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation will provide $94 million as the sole debt financier of Australia’s first co-developed wind, solar and storage array. The 60 MW Kennedy Energy Park is being developed by Windlab and Eurus Energy and will combine 43.2 MW in wind capacity, 15 MW of solar PV, and 2 MWh of battery storage.

The Clean Energy Access Network (CLEAN) has requested lithium-ion battery OEMs to demonstrate the efficacy of mini grids in the range of 15-20 kW, based on a lithium-ion battery storage system.

Powin Energy has secured non-recourse debt financing from Brookfield Renewable for an 8.8 MW/40.8 MWh storage system it plans to install in the Canadian province of Ontario. It did not disclose the terms of the agreement.