Greece applies generous net-metering
The Greek government has introduced legislation to facilitate net metering for solar PV arrays. To reward the PV sector for the delay in the policy, Greece has designed a generous net-metering scheme allowing installations up to 500 KW. Is the new law able to kick-start the idle Greek PV sector?
Emerging markets 2015: Will Israel’s PV take off?
Despite the encouraging news coming lately from other Middle Eastern markets, Israel remains the region’s most hopeful case for solar PV development. But will Israel seriously decide to boost its photovoltaic sector in 2015? Or are we set for yet another year of generally positive installations but nothing close to what Israel could or should achieve?
Emerging markets 2015: reason for optimism in Indonesia
The election of Joko Widodo to Indonesia’s presidency in July was met by Indonesians with optimism that his government will direct funds towards health care, education and infrastructure investments. President Widodo’s decision in November to slash the fuel subsidies in particular provided the energy industry with optimism that a new era may be dawning for renewables including solar PV in the populous nation.
Scottish & English PV landscapes end 2014 on high
Scotland has now reached 142 MW of solar PV, while across the U.K. cumulative PV capacity now stands at 4.671 GW. What are the recent PV trends in the U.K.’s regions and will Scottish PV soar in 2015?
UK auctions capacity, sparks controversy
A capacity market auction last week led to the procurement of 49.26 GW of new capacity, mainly from fossil and nuclear fuels, at a clearing price which will cost U.K. households nearly £1 billion. The government said the capacity market is necessary to ensure the lights stay on, specifically as power from renewables increases, but the policy has sparked controversy.
Portugal’s net-metering law raises faint hopes
Approval of law could propel solar sector into the fast lane, where PV is still playing catch-up to a soaring wind industry.
Croatian PV sector owes it all to rooftops
A lack of ambition across the sector has hindered solar PV’s growth in this sun-rich country, with only the small-scale rooftop sector likely to expand over the coming years.
Solar disrupts utilities out of their comfort zone
Solarpraxis Forum highlights how traditional energy utilities are struggling to cope with the expansion of the renewable energy sector, forcing a rethink of their relationship with renewables.
Swiss PV grows but FIT cuts push market towards self-consumption
The Alpine country’s unusual solar PV remuneration system obliges households and other small power producers to trade energy on the market while allowing bigger investors piece of mind through the FIT scheme. The usual practice in Europe and elsewhere is the other way round.
UK government refuses to intervene in solar farm plans
Secretary of state Eric Pickles refused to be drawn into the planning application for a 15-16 MW farm in Cumbria but is very much an interventionist when it comes to applications in the Tory heartlands in the south east of England.
