The booming large scale and rooftop PV market in 2018 is providing reasons to be optimistic about the future of solar under the Australian sun. Reflecting on his six-year tenure as CEO at ARENA ahead of his departure in August, Ivor Frischknecht points to the role the agency played in bringing down the costs of large scale solar as ARENA’s greatest achievement.

In the face of actual and threatened tariffs in the US and India, the world’s biggest solar manufacturers may have to set up shop in the protectionist nations in question ahead of a predicted cooling in their home market

For decades, hydrogen has been sold to us as the energy carrier of the future. You might not want to hear it anymore, because the future never seems to start. But times will change as recent developments in Germany indicate, writes Berlin-based renewable energy consultant, Stephan Franz.

As global economies develop, and uses for renewable energy diversifies, new pressures are being placed on the electric network. Yet, utilities are sitting on a wealth of data that can reveal better insights into their operations, writes Dan Beasley, Director, Utilities, Cyient.

Alexander Schönfeldt of energy storage specialists, Younicos examines the growing trend of energy storage-as-a-service, and explains why the sector is growing at such a rate.

The 2018 Smarter E event, of which Intersolar Europe is now a part, opened its doors today in Munich, Germany, with positive news that visitor numbers are up. From the conference sessions, the big topics were PPAs and unsubsidized solar. Meanwhile, the Indian Government made some interesting announcements, and kerfless solar is on track to become the next disruptive technology.

Scientists at Oxford University say two lead-free perovskites investigated for their potential to raise the efficiency of solar modules – when used in tandem with high efficiency silicon cells – may also offer a leap forward in solar storage technology. In a paper published in Applied Physics Letters, Feliciano Giustino and George Volonakis, suggest halide […]

Developer has posted positive financial results for the second quarter running, following the company’s restructuring. Though its discontinued module manufacturing operations are not included in financial results for the first quarter, the company more than tripled net income on the previous three-month period.

pv magazine met with representatives of Chinese inverter manufacturer Huawei at the company’s booth at Intersolar Europe today to discuss the patent infringement case brought by SolarEdge in Germany.

Kyocera will participate in a new project in northern Japan to test how flexibly electricity suppliers can respond to fluctuations in energy supply and demand.

The Netherlands is a country with one of the highest population densities in the world and, as a consequence, it has constrained availability of surfaces and land for all kinds of purpose, including the deployment of rooftop solar power generators. Residential PV could really help the country implement its challenging energy transition, which is to reach its almost impossible RES targets for 2020.

There was incredulity in some quarters as the federal government raised its renewables ambition another 22%, but the stellar performance of the past four years points to the new target being a realizable one.

Enerray talks to pv magazine about why it has set its sights on the MENAT region. In addition to the many challenges its nascent solar industry presents, there are a host of opportunities ripe for the picking.

Global newly installed capacity for 2018 is forecast to reach 102.6 GW, of which “only” 39 GW are expected to come from China. Fourteen countries are expected to cross the GW threshold this year.

Lightsource BP has announced the completion of its first solar project in India. The 60 MWp solar farm is located in Wagdari, Maharashtra.

With Intersolar Europe underway in Munich, pv magazine caught up with Alex Pan, Europe General Manager at SolaxPower to discuss the storage inverter supplier’s latest innovations and market position.

ESB and Oersted UK independently announced this week they have acquired storage assets to deliver ancillary services to the UK grid operator.

The planned cell is to be based on the so-called norbornadiene-quadricyclane storage system.

Researchers from Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and Oxford PV have presented a new record perovskite tandem solar cell, with a 25.2% conversion efficiency, independently verified by Fraunhofer ISE. Bernd Stannowski, from HZB presented the results this week at the World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion (WCPEC-7) in Hawaii.

Citing the need for ancillary grid services, due to increasing amounts of variable renewable energy assets being installed in the U.K., the two comapnies are stressing the stability this project will bring to the country’s grid.

While tariffs may inhibit India’s ability to benefit from anticipated record low Chinese panel prices, Japan already has a strong pipeline and two of the world’s solar pioneers – Spain and Italy – could be given a shot in the arm by new administrations.

Waaree Energies has set up a 1 GW solar PV panel plant in Vapi, which is in addition to its existing 500 MW plant in Surat, Gujarat. The company intends to further increase capacity to 2 GW. Among other key developments, it has partnered with third-party equipment suppliers to manufacture batteries.

India-based Central Electronics Limited (CEL) has invited an expression of interest (EoI) for the establishment of manufacturing facilities for the production of solar cells and crystalline silicon (c-si) modules (conventional/flexible) in India.

There is no official confirmation that a request for a review of the anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures against Chinese solar PV manufacturers has been submitted in Brussels in early June, however there are several reasons to believe it has likely happened.

German PV production equipment manufacturers are recording a decline in incoming orders. Thin film technology, meanwhile, is seeing significant market share increases.

Solar PV capacity is set to grow 17-fold, and wind six-fold, by 2050, to account for nearly half of global electricity generation, predicts BNEF, while investments will reach US$11.5 trillion. Cost reductions will drive this charge, particularly in the battery market, which will benefit from the EV manufacturing ramp up. Despite this, the electricity sector is still failing to bring CO₂ emissions down to the required levels, with its continued dependence on gas.

The Japanese government is steadily working toward the release of the country’s fifth strategic energy plan, but it needs to work with the private sector more effectively to promote the deployment of solar over the coming decades, according to a new report. 

Indonesia has reached a milestone, having inaugurated its first three solar+storage mini-grids, thus enabling three remote villages to enjoy uninterrupted, off-grid access to electricity for the entire day.

Germany’s RCT Power will start manufacturing lithium-ion-phosphate battery storage modules in eastern China this week. The fully automated facility in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, has an initial annual production capacity of 18,000 units.

ABB, ElectraNet and ARENA are coming together to deliver a microgrid and large scale battery storage solution to South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula. The commercial-deployment phase of the Energy Storage for Commercial Renewable Integration (ESCRI) project will strengthen the Electranet transmission system in the area, and will deliver increased resilience in the event of interstate connector failure.