2020

Portuguese utility EDP has agreed to buy a minority stake of up to 40% in Brazil’s Blue Sol Participações.

Despite much of the world being on lockdown for a big chunk of 2020, there are few who could say it has been an uneventful year. And while the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic will be what defines 2020 for many, in the solar industry there’s plenty more to shout about, from the rapid rollout of high-powered modules to a drastic increase in carbon-neutral pledges from companies and governments around the world. Across five installments, pv magazine takes a look back at the year in solar. First up were the U.S. election and carbon neutral pledges, followed by auctions and green bonds. Part 3 focused on big modules and renewable grid support, while part 4 looked at high-efficiency EU cell production and perovskites. In the final installment, you can read about smart homes and green hydrogen.

The economic feasibility of plant factories has been questionable because of energy costs. Now, customers of one containerized farm provider in the United States can opt for 100% clean energy with a subscription service.

A white paper published earlier in December by PV Evolution Labs investigates the formation of performance damaging cracks in PV cells, based on mechanical stress testing of more than 40 commercially available PV modules. While the lab warns that susceptibility to cracking will change according to the specific bill of materials making up each module, certain technologies are shown to perform better than others.

Australia’s Syrah Resources has signed a deal with Solarcentury to install 11.2 MW of solar and an 8.5 MW battery storage system at a mine in Mozambique.

Despite much of the world being on lockdown for a big chunk of 2020, there are few who could say it has been an uneventful year. And while the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic will be what defines 2020 for many, in the solar industry there’s plenty more to shout about, from the rapid rollout of high-powered modules to a drastic increase in carbon-neutral pledges from companies and governments around the world. Across five installments, pv magazine takes a look back at the year in solar. First up were the U.S. election and carbon neutral pledges, followed by auctions and green bonds, and big modules and renewable grid support. Next up are high-efficiency EU cell production and perovskites.

South Australian utility SA Water is set to flick the switch on the “world’s largest” portable solar array, as work has started on a 12 MW prefabricated PV system at the Happy Valley Reservoir near Adelaide.

Across the United States, more than three dozen solar projects with nameplate capacities of at least 100 MW are set to enter service in 2021. The Texas oil patch is on track to host the largest of them.

Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Energy has revealed plans to launch a new solar tender in early 2021. Separately, the Asian Development Bank signed a deal last week to provide up to $175 million in loans to back the development of another 100 MW solar project in the country.

Sonnedix has secured €160 million of non-recourse financing for solar PV projects in Italy.