Renewables may be the victor in Spanish election
Although it is still unclear how the victorious Socialist Party will build a majority in parliament, listed Spanish energy companies such as Solaria and Audax saw the price of their shares rise significantly after the vote.
Scientists concentrate on efficient hydrogen production
Researchers from the Laboratory of Renewable Energy Science and Engineering at Switzerland’s Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne have developed a device which they say could “provide a pathway for device scalability aimed towards the large scale deployment of photo-electrochemical hydrogen production”.
Labor plan to aggregate 4,000 schools into virtual power plants in $1 billion solar program
Australia’s federal Labor party has pledged to roll out PV generation and batteries at schools across the nation, and to create VPPs supporting up to 365 MW of capacity.
Jinko announces 5 GW wafer factory and 10.7 GW of module supply deals
The new manufacturing facility will be located in Leshan, in China’s Sichuan province and will produce monocrystalline wafers. It will raise the group’s wafer capacity to around 11.5 GW. Meanwhile, large supply deals are said to have come from markets including Vietnam, Mexico and Spain.
Longi outlines aggressive expansion plans as annual figures are released
The world’s number one monosilicon module maker is not intending to give up its crown any time soon, and has announced further plans to expand its already huge annual production capacities for ingots, wafers, cells and modules.
Renewable energy will surpass coal in the US this month and next
The volume of U.S. electricity generated by renewable energy is set to surpass the level sourced from coal for the first time this month and the trend is expected to continue in May, according to Department of Energy data.
Tenerife plans 350 MW of solar alongside 1 GWh storage
A new project is in line with the target of the Island Council of Tenerife to cover all electricity demand with renewable energy. The development of electromobility and storage is key to the ambition.
Development lender to help Egypt deploy 600 MW of solar in West Nile
World Bank Group member the IFC has signed an agreement to implement tendered projects with the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company. The tender for the solar complex was launched at the end of 2017.
Q-Cells unveils new half-cell monocrystalline panel
According to the Korean manufacturer, its Q.Peak Duo-G6 module is produced with larger wafers than those used in the G5. This is said to increase module yield by around 6% for a power output ranging from 355-420 W.
Another 3 GW on the way for the Netherlands PV market
The slew of new capacity will come from projects allocated from the bids received for the autumn 2018 round of the SDE+ program for large scale renewables. The Dutch Central Agency for Statistics revealed new PV additions last year were 200 MW more than predicted, at 1.5 GW, and the government last week announced net metering conditions for rooftop solar would be maintained until 2023.
