German renewables developer Juwi has signed a contract to provide EPC services for a 50 MW project located near to the coast in central Vietnam’s Binh Dinh province. This project brings Juwi’s pipeline in the Southeast Asian country to 130 MW.

A report from the United States’ Rocky Mountain Institute finds more work is needed on the demand side for microgrids and other rural electrification projects in Africa. Such projects, says the report, often focus on building generation capacity, with little consideration for the ability of end users to make good use of energy.

Azure Power has raised the capital since June 30th, and says it is “the largest amount of financing raised by a solar power company in India during this period”. Azure says the fund leaves it well positioned to deliver a 2 GW project pipeline.

Chinese polysilicon producer GCL-Poly Energy Holdings yesterday announced plans to increase the production capacity of its new factory, currently under construction in Xinjiang, China, to 60,000 metric tonnes (MT) per year. Accordingly, the company expects total investment in the project to increase to around $862 million.

French energy giant EDF has acquired a 50% stake in off-grid developer BBOXX’s operation in Togo. The two will work together to boost access to electricity in the West African country, according to EDF, and the partnership is the first step, with plans to extend cooperation to more countries in Africa.

The Norwegian polysilicon producer posted an EBITDA loss of $6.1 million for the third quarter of 2018, as it continues to struggle with low demand and prices. Revenue for the company’s solar materials segment fell almost 70% on the previous quarter.

Swedish battery supplier Northvolt has announced plans for a manufacturing plant in Gdansk, Poland. The company says that the plant will have an initial capacity of 10,000 battery modules per year and will begin production in 2019.

14 MW of new solar capacity began feeding energy into Taiwan’s grid this week, as the first phase of a planned 100 MW facility being built by the island’s utility Taipower.

Researchers from Kaunas University of Technology in Lithuania, working with the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, have found an additive commonly used to improve performance in perovskite solar cells speeds up degradation of the material.

Berkeley researchers have discovered a shade of blue – dating back to ancient Egypt – which has impressive qualities they say could reduce building energy consumption and boost solar energy output. Meanwhile, the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory has developed a perovskite cell material that could be applied to a substrate using a paintbrush.