SunPower splits in two
The U.S. company’s transformation from solar manufacturer to the second-largest residential PV company in the nation is complete after it spun off its high-efficiency cell and module production unit into a new entity, in partnership with Chinese wafer maker TZS.
Centrica’s local energy market in Cornwall pioneers third-party grid flexibility procurement
With hundreds of homes and businesses having received solar-plus-storage systems and monitoring equipment, an algorithm is managing a market for flexibility and capacity in Cornwall. Homeowners with storage can place bids to sell energy from their systems to the distribution system owner on an intraday basis.
Put your hands on a floating PV system
A new handbook published by the World Bank and Solar Research Institute of Singapore contains advice on how to plan and build floating PV. The guide is intended to help developers with site identification; feasibility studies; finance; environmental and social issues; procurement and construction; and operations and maintenance.
Poland tops 1 GW of solar
Grid operator Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne has published figures demonstrating the country had 1,007.2 MW of solar at the end of September, with 600 MW of new PV coming online in the first nine months of the year. The Polish government expects total capacity to reach 1.3 GW this year.
Tuvalu granted $6m for renewables ambition
The Asian Development Bank has signed off a grant for the South Pacific island nation to move on its plans to be 100% renewable by 2025.
European solar manufacturer body hits out at EU focus on post-production eco labelling
The European Solar Manufacturing Council says a decision by policymakers to disregard the carbon footprint of imported solar products ‘makes absolutely no sense’. Talk of ‘jobs which require a rather low qualification’, meanwhile, is unlikely to heal the widening rift with solar project developers and panel installers.
Bangladesh nears net metering policy for solar irrigation pumps
Firming up the payment system for solar energy exported back into the grid from PV-powered pumps will offer owners a new revenue stream, eat into a $1 billion annual diesel fuel bill and reduce strain on the grid by up to 1.5 GW daily during the agricultural season.
Brazilian regulator wants to reduce net metering credit and introduce grid fee
Electricity regulator ANEEL has proposed applying a fee for solar systems with up to 5 MW of generation capacity and reducing energy payments for participants in the nation’s net metering program.
PowerGen closes funding for electricity access for a million people
The microgrid utility has raised enough capital from Shell New Energies to deploy systems across sub-Saharan Africa.
Turkcell inaugurates data center with 1 MW rooftop array near Ankara
The telecommunications company opened a large data center near the Turkish capital. Turkcell said it wants to improve data security by storing more information on Turkish soil.
