Emiliano Bellini
Italy tops 20 GW of solar
The Italian PV market grew 7% last year with new capacity additions of 437 MW. Of that figure, only about 47 MW was for installations larger than 1 MW – a clear sign rooftop PV is still driving demand.
SERIS aims for 24% efficiency for mono PERC cell
The Singapore research institute will cooperate with China’s Ruxing Technology to increase the efficiency of its monoPoly™ technology. Through this cooperation, SERIS believes its solar cell efficiency could be raised to 24%, and module power beyond 345 W.
Valoe and Solitek join forces to produce IBC cells in Lithuania
The Finnish PV equipment provider and the Lithuanian PV panel maker will manufacture IBC solar cells at Solitek’s factory in Vilnius with an initial production capacity of 60 MW.
Ardian, White Summit invest in Jinko Power’s 182.5 MW solar project in southern Spain
The €125 million solar park is under construction near Seville. The project was selected in an auction held by the Spanish government in July 2017.
A specter is haunting South Africa, renegotiation of PPAs signed between 2011 and 2012
As national utility Eskom faces a financial and operational crisis, rumors are spreading that the government may ask independent power producers to renegotiate the tariffs of PPAs awarded in the first two rounds of its renewable energy program. South African solar association SAPVIA has already given short shrift to the idea.
Utility-scale PV all set for growth in Belgium
The energy regulator of Flanders has set a provisional feed-in premium of €0.02595/kWh – to be added to the spot market price – for a 1.35 MW solar project under development in the region. That is considerably more affordable for public support than the feed-in premium of €0.078/kWh the VEA set a year earlier for a 100 MW project under development by Engie.
Bifacial modules ridin’ down the highway
The Dutch government will deploy bifacial PV modules on noise barriers along the country’s main roads. A first, 400m solar array has been built along the A50 near Uden, in the Netherlands’ southern province of Noord-Brabant.
Lyon’s BePositive event shows confidence in French PV market remains strong
The solar event in Lyon illustrated how expectations of French solar remain big despite lower-than-expected development and issues related to regulations and carbon footprint requirements. The large participation of international and Chinese players seeking business among installers and distributors is a signal things may improve in the short term, and larger volumes may be deployed in the coming years.
Ukraine’s largest PV project secures provisional FIT license
The 246 MW Solar-Farm 1 is being developed by the nation’s largest energy holding and coal power producer, DTEK. The plant will be on the territory of a spent quarry.
First Middle Eastern utility-scale solar-plus-storage plant comes online
The 23 MW/12.6 MWh facility is near Mafraq, in northern Jordan. The storage system will offer peak shaving to increase grid stability while enhancing solar output.
