Emiliano Bellini
Residential, commercial PV drives solar demand in Italy
Solar has covered 5.8% of Italy’s power demand so far this year. Newly installed PV capacity for the first four months of this year, meanwhile, has reached 116 MW, around 6.4% up from the same period in 2017.
Enertronica secures 200 MW inverter order from Spain, obtains financing for project in Namibia
The Italian solar developer will provide inverters through its unit Elettronica Santerno.
German scientists to develop energy-storing solar cells
The planned cell is to be based on the so-called norbornadiene-quadricyclane storage system.
Netherlands to replace net metering with new scheme for residential, commercial PV
Under the new scheme, set to come into force in 2020, homeowners and small businesses investing in solar and other renewables can expect a payback period of around seven years. They will also be exempt from paying energy taxes and the ODE (Opslag Duurzame Energie), a levy on power consumers that finances the country’s renewable energy programs, for self-consumed electricity,
Mexico eliminates 15% customs duties on solar module imports
Mexico’s Federal Court of Fiscal and Administrative Justice has accepted an appeal lodged by the Mexican solar association, Asolmex, to remove the 15% customs duties applied to imports of solar PV modules.
Four key solar takeaways from Spain’s Genera 2018
Genera 2018, held this June 13 to 15 in Madrid, Spain, set the scene for a market that is once again on track to become Europe’s solar leader. This year, reflecting this positive progress, the Spanish renewable energy fair saw the share of solar exhibitors increase over previous years. While this transition year is not expected to record strong solar growth, 2019 could realistically see the installation of 3 GW. Read on to discover the four key takeaways from this year’s event.
Russia’s RE auction concludes with surprisingly low bids
Hevel Solar and Fortum won the 148.5 MW worth of solar PV projects awarded in the auction. The Finnish utility, however, proposed a project CAPEX, which was almost half that of the Russian company’s.
Spain’s ‘sun tax’ set to be scrapped
With her first official announcement, Spain’s incoming Minister of Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera has made it clear that the previous government’s reviled tax on distributed generation array, the so-called ‘sun tax’ will be eliminated. At the same time, she has confirmed her support for more ambitious EU renewable energy targets.
Polish utility PGE takes another step into solar
The utility’s renewable energy unit PGE EO has announced the construction of a PV laboratory and a solar module field test in Siedlce. The move is part of its plan to invest in solar parks up to 1 MW under Poland’s auction mechanism.
Italy and Spain join group of countries supporting 2030 binding renewable energy target of 35%
According to the EU Commissioner for Energy and Climate Action, Arias Cañete, negotiations among all EU members on final target are still ongoing, and face several issues.
