Highlights

Norway’s state-owned hydropower and wind company plans to invest around NOK 10 billion (US$1.23 billion) in wind and solar between 2019 and 2025.

While global coal mining companies are enjoying the highest prices in years on the back of boosted Asian demand, banks and financiers are increasingly ending their support for coal power. London-based Standard Chartered the latest to stop financing new coal-fired stations.

Solar cell manufacturers are always on an R&D race to improve efficiency. But even with their efforts, today you can still expect up to about a 3.5% loss from carrier- or light-induced degradation, industry insiders claimed last Thursday at pv magazine’s Quality Roundtable, held at Energy Taiwan 2018 in Taipei.

Labour this morning unveiled plans for an energy system free of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, but it is unclear what proportion of the party’s “clean energy” mix would be met by nuclear.

The Energía Limpia de La Laguna project, owned by Mexican fund Balam, is located in the state of Durango. The plant incorporates 108,314 polycrystalline modules on 98 single-axis trackers.

This year’s opening session for largest gathering of solar professionals in the United States alluded to many of the themes that the solar industry is grappling with.

pv magazine’s Future PV Roundtable, held at the 2018 Renewable Energy India (REI) Expo in Greater Noida, discussed how India can better adopt bifacial solar cell and module technology – the future of power generation. Prominent industry speakers also put forth their views on how standards can catalyze solar innovation for India-specific challenges, and on PV materials and components for enhanced module efficiency and recycling.

As the deployment of renewable energy continues to expand around the world, driven by various inputs, such as capital allocation and investment, falling capital costs, competitive LCOE and various policy mechanisms, we are now moving towards a new era for renewable energy. ‘Renewables 2.0’ will have significant, wide-ranging consequences for all market players, as regulators reduce their support and power producers seek new revenue models. In this article, Duncan Ritchie, partner at Apricum – The Cleantech Advisory, will look at the key market developments for renewables, explode the myth of grid parity, highlight the need for flexibility and explain the importance of new financing solutions that are capable of meeting the new complexities brought about by ‘Renewables 2.0’.

At pv magazine’s first Latin American Quality Roundtable, held at Intersolar South America in Sao Paulo, we were joined by international players, like JinkoSolar and DuPont, as well as public and private Latin American entities, all of which are striving to bring more quality to the solar PV supply chain, from the U.S.-Mexico border to Tierra del Fuego.

The 71% of capacity which was not taken up in a previous tendering exercise in Maharashtra has simply been rolled over into the new one by the state’s electric distribution company.