Highlights

For installations with a generation capacity of less than 10 kW, the feed-in tariff will rise 36% to €0.165/kWh and all installations below 500 kW are set to benefit from an improved regulatory framework.

Scientists say they have observed how the instability of vanadium disulfide in lithium-ion batteries occurs and claim to have solved the problem by applying a nanolayered titanium disulfide coating.

Europe saw the largest upswing of new PV installations over the past year, in particular after the minimum import price on modules ended. Installations grew by 23% in 2018, reaching 12 GW. IHS Markit forecasts the region to surpass 19 GW in 2019. The reason for this revived growth, writes Research & Analysis Manager Josefin Berg, is a combination of the increased cost competitiveness of PV, more initiatives outside of subsidy schemes, and new policy initiatives to meet 2020 and 2030 targets.

The expansion of The smarter E Europe exhibition and conference continues apace in 2019, with the growth of power-to-gas as well as solar and battery storage’s increasing competitiveness capturing new territory. It is managing to meet both system requirements and customer demand.

After being excluded from the A-6 auction last year, solar will now be entitled to compete for 20-year PPAs alongside wind, hydro and thermal power projects in future procurements. The next auction will be held on September 26.

And the analyst expects that annual new additions figure to rise to 10.6 GW in 2025. This year the U.S. will surpass South Korea as the largest storage market due to new capacity for solar-plus-storage projects. In Japan and Australia, growth will be spurred by the termination of FIT programs.

With the deadline set by the Trump administration for avoiding a rise in further penalties on Chinese imports having passed without resolution last night, the Ministry of Commerce in Beijing reportedly warned of countermeasures, a threat which will raise fears among members of the Norwegian firm’s U.S. workforce.

By providing solar-plus-storage, contracting to supply capacity in wholesale markets and even considering microgrid communities, Sunrun is taking on more of the space traditionally occupied by utilities and large, centralized power generators.

The procurement – for PV capacity at the Dholera Solar Park – attracted bids for just 300 MW as developers shunned a tariff ceiling of $0.039/kWh.

The Japanese multinational will transfer its Panasonic Energy Malaysia unit to Chinese heterojunction module provider GS-Solar as part of a broader cooperation agreement. Panasonic’s solar R&D business will form part of a JV in Japan to be 90% owned by GS-Solar.