Highlights

The warranty risk of solar must be addressed early in the development phase of PV projects, as it is not possible to buy warranty insurance later during the operational phase. Decisions taken by developers at this stage will remain important for the next 25 years. The good news is that an industry standard exists, and it can be easily and cost-effectively applied to most PV projects, writes Ronald Sastrawan from Munich Re.

The Federal Environment Agency said clean energy provided 8% more electricity in the first six months of the year than in the same period of 2019. Solar accounted for 28 TWh.

In a little over ten years, Northvolt aims to pour 150 GWh of batteries onto the European market, annually. The company is also working to source end-of-life batteries for half its raw materials.

The latest edition of the US Energy Information Administration’s Electric Power Monthly report shows renewables generated more electricity through May 31 than coal and nuclear.

Spanish energy company Iberdrola plans to build a 100 MW solar park, a storage facility, and a hydrogen production station in Puertollano, central Spain. The €150 million project is scheduled to be operational next year.

Recent years have seen an explosion of installed PV capacity across the European Union, fueled by the well-documented rapid reduction in technology costs and favorable subsidy regimes in many jurisdictions. However, one corner of Northern Europe remains relatively untouched by the solar revolution, writes Adam Sharpe of Everoze. The Republic of Ireland currently has the second-lowest amount of installed PV capacity in the European Union, at just 36 MW by the end of 2019.

Canadian non-profit Plug’n Drive has looked at Ontario’s time-of-use electricity rates and found electric vehicle owners could generate substantial income by charging at night and selling to businesses during the daytime. Doing so could mean EVs have a lower net cost than conventional vehicles.

NTPC wants to buy PV plants with a minimum generation capacity of 50 MW which sell power for a maximum INR5/kWh ($0.0668).

The European Commission has concluded that there are no compelling reasons to scrap definitive countervailing and anti-dumping measures on solar glass imports from China. Currently, the anti-subsidy duties range from 3.2% to 17.1%, while anti-dumping tariffs are between 17.5% and 75.4%.

Group spinoff Maxeon Solar Technologies will produce the new Performance 5 modules with bifacial mono-PERC solar cells, made from large format eight-inch G12 wafers. The panels boast an efficiency of 21.2%.