The Solar Energy Industries Association’s “ambitious goal” of solar supplying 20% of U.S. electricity in 2030 looks more like a forecast, and vision for rapid decarbonization is coming from the climate movement and the American Left, not SEIA.

As the European elections approach, it will be vital to have MEPs that are committed to solar and help ensure that the lowest cost and most flexible clean energy technology is the leading contributor to the EU’s 2050 climate strategy, writes Walburga Hemetsberger, CEO of SolarPower Europe.

Over the past few years, solar energy has undergone a remarkable transformation. From its position as one mainstream energy source among many, it has now become the world’s preferred source of power, writes Martin Haupts, CEO of Phanes Group.

Europe saw the largest upswing of new PV installations over the past year, in particular after the minimum import price on modules ended. Installations grew by 23% in 2018, reaching 12 GW. IHS Markit forecasts the region to surpass 19 GW in 2019. The reason for this revived growth, writes Research & Analysis Manager Josefin Berg, is a combination of the increased cost competitiveness of PV, more initiatives outside of subsidy schemes, and new policy initiatives to meet 2020 and 2030 targets.

To keep up with the global shift to renewable energies, the Taiwanese Government has passed the first large set of amendments to its Renewable Energy Development Act since the legislation’s inception in 2009. The amendment bill passed its third reading on April 12, 2019, and was designed to optimize the renewable energy environment, to keep up with the changes to the Electricity Act and to increase civic engagement.

Europe’s most important scientific research institutes have joined forces to make perovskite solar applications more than just a dream. The European Perovskite Initiative consortium is planning to draw up a perovskite white paper.

While the lifting of any tariffs is welcome news to the U.S. solar industry, manufacturers say low materials prices are unlikely to return as long as protectionist measures elsewhere remain in place.

The Kazakh state-owned national atomic energy company has sold its three manufacturing units to an international consortium. The sale of its solar business has been planned since May 2017.

The government has finally issued a net metering scheme for solar systems not exceeding 10 kW of generation capacity – the country’s first attempt to support small scale PV. New rules for larger, unlicensed projects have also been introduced, with the size limit for eligible systems raised to 5 MW.

The Spanish developer has acquired the Tacna Solar and Panamericana Solar projects which it developed and built for X-Elio in 2012.

The body responsible for the installation of more than 4 million residential PV installations has asked its government masters to provide interest-free financing for its program and Dhaka is considering the proposal.

In a recent survey, DNV GL found that demand for blockchain-related skills in the solar sector is 50% higher than in other energy industries, while 33% of respondents said that the use of drones is having a significant impact on their businesses. However, the solar industry needs a common framework to help advance digitalization further.

Spain’s Holaluz has agreed to buy electricity from up to 500 MW of solar capacity that China’s Chint Energy plans to build in Spain. The investment has been estimated at roughly €350 million.

The Portuguese government has approved legislative amendments that it says will facilitate its plans to auction off 1.35 GW of solar capacity this summer. The Portuguese energy minister, meanwhile, said that the government hopes to see €6 billion of investment in solar by 2030.

The UK Labour Party has revealed plans to facilitate the installation of solar panels on 1.75 million homes, with a particular focus on low-income households.

The companies have invested €17 million in the project. The energy stored, in the Brandenburg project, will be used to stabilize the grid and minimize the curtailment of wind farms.

Researchers claim the cell they have developed is able to retain 90% of its efficiency after 1,000 hours under extreme light and heat conditions.

The Swiss power group and Italian utility Evolvere have started a blockchain pilot project designed to facilitate transparent, secure peer-to-peer energy trading.

After close to a decade of dramatic module cost declines, a new era of subsidy-free, utility-scale PV projects in dawning in Europe. But rather than ever-cheaper commodity modules, Radu Roman expects that technological innovation, particularly at the module level, will boost performance and continue solar’s subsidy-free expansion. Roman is Jinko Solar’s product and business development manager for Europe and will be a panelist at the Future PV Roundtable in Munich on Wednesday, May 16.

The Hi-MO 4 offers power ratings up to 430 watts, with module efficiencies as high as 19.2%, as the latest high-powered module to hit the floor at Intersolar Europe.

The Chinese solar manufacturer is set to transfer independent shareholders’ stakes into a special purpose vehicle while one of its affiliate businesses seeks a listing on Beijing’s A-share index. Inevitably, though, the process has not been a smooth one.

The notion of a circular economy is gaining traction, both in and out of the solar and storage industries. Recently, the European Commission wrote, “The circular economy is now an irreversible global trend,” and there are many initiatives taking place around the world to build a more circular society. As part of our new UP campaign, pv magazine spoke with material solutions provider DSM Advanced Solar to see what it is doing in this area.

The testing company’s first inverter scorecard found widespread failures of basic tests in UL- and IEC-tested products.

State-owned Solar Energy Corp. of India (SECI) has once again extended the bid submission deadline for its latest 3 GW, manufacturing-linked solar tender, following a tepid response.

A combination of a heat sink effect, with radiation and passive convection heat dissipation results in cooler modules, and higher power output. This is the technique applied by Coolback, which launched its new backsheet concept at Intersolar Europe this week. Coolback Simon Meijer sets out the technology, effects and strategy to market.

The Finnish utility has switched on a 5 MW/6.2 MWh lithium-ion battery storage system at a hydropower plant in Sweden.

Electric vehicles could account for more than half of all passenger cars and buses sold throughout the world within the next two decades, according to a new report by BloombergNEF. Sliding lithium-ion battery costs will make EVs cheaper than vehicles based on internal combustion engines by the mid- to late-2020s, the research firm says.

The Western Australian Environmental Protection Authority is seeking public input on the massive Asian Renewable Energy Hub proposed for the country’s Pilbara region.

Pumped hydro storage is highly cost competitive for large-scale energy storage, according to a report published by the San Diego County Water Authority. The report models a pumped hydro project as securing better financing terms than battery storage.

Canadian company CellCube Energy Storage Systems and Pangea Energy have signalled their intention to install a 50 MW/200 MWh energy storage system in Port Augusta, South Australia.