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.

Although the report issued by the U.S. scientists recognizes the importance of low-level factors, like improvements in PV components and manufacturing processes, economies of scale and public policies are said to be the high-level mechanisms responsible for most of the cost decreases in solar technology and, thus, its success over the past two decades.

According to a report from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), key factors such as the low-regulated price of electricity and uncertainty of the creditworthiness of Vietnam’s state-owned utility EVN are making it difficult to develop bankable solar and RE projects. An improved fiscal energy policy is recommended as the only way to provide the local energy sector with long-term capital and competence in conducting green credit appraisal. Furthermore, the report warns that the current 20-year FIT of US$0.0935/kWh for solar projects is too low.

Solar and/or wind are said to be the cheapest source of new energy generation in all major economies, apart from Japan, finds BloombergNEF. It adds that China’s utility-scale PV market has contracted by over a third this year; and that battery costs are set to drop a further 66% by 2030, driven by EV adoption.

In March of this year, two unknown men in Haan, Germany, dropped acid on Innogy board member Bernhard Günter. In September, the prosecutor announced the investigation was closed. Innogy, however, hopes to find new clues through the reward.

The RE100 Progress Insights Annual Report 2018, released at the end of last week, portrays the central role corporate policies can play in carbon mitigation efforts.

The Finnish Energy Agency is seeking proposals for annual electricity production totaling 1.4 TWh. Large-scale wind, solar, biomass and wave power projects will be entitled to participate in the auction.

The German Federal Network Agency has selected 36 solar PV power projects with a combined capacity of 201 MW in the mixed energy auction, which ended with a final average price of €0.0527/kWh.

Through the tender, the Algerian Government will select IPP solar projects with a capacity range of 10-50 MW. The projects, to be located in the southwestern part of the country, will be developed on a Build-Own-Operate (BOO) basis. Domestic content rules require the use of solar modules assembled in Algeria, as well as locally manufactured mounting structures and cables.

Overall, 5,907 renewable energy projects totaling 5 GW are now under review by the Dutch Ministry of Economy in the second round of the SDE+ program for this year. Solar accounts for 72.8% of the total submitted capacity.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.