Commercial & Industrial PV

The latest edition of the accountant’s renewables attractiveness index has placed the nation in top spot for photovoltaics, helping it to fourth spot for overall clean energy investment. Mexico has been hammered by the government’s attitude to clean power and France has also slipped, four places.

The rebate for small-sized rooftop PV projects was raised from CHF340 (€314) to CHF380 per kilowatt installed.

This year’s pv magazine Quality Roundtable USA looked at extreme weather, and how resiliency can be built through modern O&M. Representatives from DuPont, Stäubli, Nextracker and RETC took to the virtual stage to discuss weather-related damages, and how to harness quality materials and workmanship to industry’s advantage, particularly when it comes to insurers. Ariel Re and NovaSource, meanwhile, looked at issues like risk management insurance solutions and asset stabilization. Case studies and presentations on the field performance of PV modules, and extreme hail and fire, were also included.

Energy communities in Italy will be awarded a special tariff for all shared power in renewable energy systems not exceeding 200 kW in size. Surplus power can be injected into the grid, but with no remuneration, which may encourage the members of these communities to resort to storage.

The new technique, proposed by researchers in Pakistan, is claimed to estimate the voltage, current and temperature of a PV system without interrupting the power flow to load.

An extensive European Commission regulation has set the bar on those economic activities deemed to help in the war against global heating and, by implication, those which may hinder the effort.

Australian design and manufacturing company PVDymanics has unveiled a solar canopy technology which can be used with both framed and frameless solar modules. The company believes its system can revolutionize the micro-grid market.

The Australian rooftop PV market is expected to eclipse all previous records in 2020, but a new report has raised serious questions about the fire safety standards associated with small-scale solar installations.

India added 399 MW of new rooftop solar capacity in the second quarter (July-Sept) of fiscal 2020-21. By comparison, just 188 MW was installed in the corresponding period last year.

A €62m Italo-French program will reduce risk for project developers and a €20m Spanish scheme will fund off-grid installations in sub-Saharan Africa.