2019

Unannounced lay-offs with no pay or benefits have left more than 600 American workers, 180 employees in Germany and thousands in China unemployed and in the dark. Some of those affected have told pv magazine their story.

With the move, the Italian infrastructure fund has raised its operational renewable energy portfolio to 1 GW and secured access to the Spanish market for its EF Solare unit.

Almost all of the energy supplied in the Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan comes from 1.67 GW of hydropower capacity but with a rising population and energy demand, and an expanding economy, the 12 GW of solar the International Renewable Energy Agency estimates the Himalayan nation could host might reduce the risk of climate change-related blackouts.

The debt-saddled Chinese PV developer hopes the holders of notes due to mature next month will be persuaded to hold off settlement for two years as it awaits a shareholder vote related to its latest proposed injection of public funds.

The Italia Solare Forum event held in Rome laid bare the difficulty of securing permits for large scale projects at national and regional levels. Fast-tracking the process for big solar parks appears necessary to get Italian PV back on track.

A Malaysian study has compared the techniques used to reduce total harmonic distortion caused by PV systems. The paper, which considers the benefits and drawbacks of the approaches studied, suggests the use of adaptive filters.

Huanghe Hydropower Development has started work on the first phase of a huge renewable energy project which will eventually feature 10 GW of solar generation capacity along with 5 GW of wind and 1 GW of concentrating solar power. Trina will supply 600 MW of modules to the first phase of the facility.

Southern Water has issued a request for information about sourcing solar power through bilateral power purchase agreements. The company is considering buying electricity from generation facilities on its sites in southern England.

The nation has been plagued by extensive power outages again with debt-riddled utility Eskom blaming heavy summer floods for taking out extensive parts of its coal-fired power generation fleet.

Synthetic kerosene produced from green hydrogen promises emissions-free air travel. That sounds good – and it does not even cost that much. But there is still much more work to be done. After all, only fuel-cell airplanes can make hydrogen-powered flight truly climate-neutral, and it will take some time before these aircraft are ready for widespread use.