Installations

German research institute Fraunhofer ISE found that electricity generation from PV systems has increased 16% to reach 45.7 terawatt-hours, with photovoltaics comprising 8.4% of total generation.

Upon completion, the long-term storage benefits of compressed hydrogen, coupled with an abundance of solar radiation in the summer months, will allow for a fully energy-sufficient 172 home apartment block in Sweden.

Under the new Solar Policy 2018 announced on Thursday, Andhra Pradesh has set a minimum target of 5 GW of newly installed PV power capacity over the next five years.

Taqnia Energy, a subsidiary of the Saudi Technology Development and Investment Company, has announced the completion of the first 10 MW phase of the Layla Solar Plant. The facility will cover approximately 10% of the power needs of the province of Al-Aflaj.

Belarusian civil engineering company ZAO Belzarubezhstroy has been awarded the contract to build a 109 MW PV power plant in in the Cherikov District of the Mogilev Region. The company reports that ground works for the projects have already commenced on land that was effected by radiation a result of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

Although the Saudi authorities were expected to launch tenders for 3.3 GW of solar last year, these were postponed. According to local industry sources, when new targets for renewables are set and more clarity on solar capacity expansion provided, the first tenders will be issued. The new targets are expected to also include the ambitious 200 GW project announced by the Saudi Government last March.

With Dubai and Abu Dhabi having already implemented big plans for solar energy development, the small northern emirate of Umm Al Quwain has now announced its first large-scale solar power project.

India’s Solar Energy Corporation of India has invited solar power developers to construct 7.5 GW grid connected projects in Leh and Kargil Districts in the state of Jammu & Kashmir under a competitive bidding process. Bid submission deadline is April 30. Tenders will be opened on the same day. The date of reverse auction will be advised at a later date.

After providing €2 million for two projects in October, the government of Flanders has now selected six more floating PV projects totaling 11.1 MW, which are planned to be built with public support.

U.S. developers have applied to build 139 GWac of large-scale solar projects in the territory of six grid operators – around five times what is currently online across the country – and that figure doesn’t even cover the entire United States. By any metric, we are looking at an unprecedented boom in solar development over the next five years.