The Gaza Strip, one of the most densely populated areas in the world, is embracing solar energy as a reliable local energy source. However, its 2 million residents still only have access to electricity for just a few hours per day. Amjad Khashmann reports on damages to installed PV systems and the urgent need for new installations to support education, water, and health care.

Every year, the SNEC PV Power Expo marks a turning point in the direction of solar market trends, and 2021 was no exception. Corrine Lin, chief analyst at PV InfoLink, was at the show to soak up the latest trends at one of the first big events to go ahead since early 2020.

Korean solar manufacturer Hanwha Q Cells has told pv magazine a Dutch court which gave it permission to seize a shipment of solar products made by Chinese rival Longi Solar at the warehouse of a storage keeper last month, has confirmed Longi can reclaim the PV products upon proof they will not be distributed in European markets where a Hanwha technology patent applies.

In June, solar stocks underperformed, writes Jesse Pichel of ROTH Capital Partners. The U.S. residential market retains a positive outlook, though rising prices and forced labor concerns represent significant challenges.

A gigafactory, as the name indicates, is a facility that aims to produce Li-ion cells at a gigawatt-hours scale of total capacity, so they can then be used in electric vehicles or stationary storage applications. The global production capacity of Li-ion cells is expected to reach 740 GWh by the end of 2021 – almost a threefold increase from 2017 – and Europe will account for 8% of the total. João Coelho, an analyst at Delta-EE, looks at how Europe plans to catch up.

More money for climate protection – that’s what the G7 heads of state agreed on at their recent summit in Cornwall, England. It will involve making a whole lot more funds available to expedite the current pace of renewable energy expansion.

PV markets in Southeast Asia have picked up over the past two years, driven by the astounding growth of Vietnam. Regional policies, combined with growing demand for renewable power in the manufacturing industry, will result in 27 GW of new PV installations across the region over the next five years, writes IHS Markit analyst Dharmendra Kumar. PV installations in these countries are driven by attractive feed-in tariffs, net energy metering, tariff-based auction mechanisms, and other incentives.

A 63 MWp solar project has been completed in the Philippines by Modern Energy Management (MEM) for AC Energy. The Gigasol project is part of the latter’s plan to roll out 5 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2025.

Innovations in green hydrogen are developing at a fast pace. This presents new questions like where are the markets, how fast will they come, how can we ensure hydrogen is green and cost-efficient, and what needs to be considered by project developers when planning related business models? And, at the end, will there be an opportunity for market players coming from the solar sphere? Watch our final Roundtable Europe video to find out.

The Middle East, and the Gulf in particular, has been home to record low solar tariffs in recent years. Major projects are being awarded via tenders, with prices gradually closing in on a remarkable 1 USDct/kWh. Of course, this is no coincidence due to the region’s favorable solar conditions: availability of cheap and sunny desert land, low labor costs, cheap project financing, supportive tax regimes, large projects benefitting from economies of scale, well designed tender structures, and decreasing PV component prices.