Installations

Leading figures in the Indian solar landscape debated at REI the funding and growth challenges facing the country’s market, need for continued foreign capital evident.

SMA’s Sunny Home Manager has added the prestigious brands of Bosch and Siemens to the list of appliances that it can easily integrate, adding to its ability to optimize power usage from a residential solar system and to continue costs electricity costs.

According to the latest U.S. Energy Storage Monitor, a quarterly publication from GTM Research and the Energy Storage Association (ESA), the United States deployed 41.2 megawatts of energy storage in the second quarter of 2016, an increase of 126% over the first quarter of the year. The nation is on track to deploy 287 megawatts of energy storage this year.

Australia’s large scale solar installed capacity is set to triple in 2017. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has awarded 12 PV power plant projects, worth 482 MW, grant funding under its program to stimulate the market segment. It was announced today in Syndey that AU$91.7 million ($71 million) in grants will be provided to projects worth around AU$1.06 billion ($820 million).

The French energy minister confirmed this week that France will begin a series of tenders for 1.35 GW of new rooftop PV to be conducted over the next three years, which can be added to the 3 GW of utility-scale solar PV that will be auctioned during a separate series of tenders over the same time period.

The projects are in various stages of development and most are expected to be completed in 2017 and 2018.

Chinese PV manufacturer JinkoSolar has announced its withdrawal from the EU price undertaking, adding pressure on the EU to revise or abolish the scheme, in the face of disapproval from the European solar market and a number of high-profile Chinese companies leaving the agreement.

All eyes are on the Pullman Hotel in Sydney, where on Thursday, 12 out of the 20 large-scale solar projects shortlisted for the Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s $100 million funding round are expected to be announced as winners of federal government grants.

Changing technology, pressure to cut costs, dizzying price slumps and a number of other issues make solar module quality control as relevant as ever. The danger that modules could fail outright remains slim, so module reliability is still decisive for the success of the investment, explains George Touloupas, Director of Technology and Quality at CEA, in preparation of the 4th pv magazine Quality roundtable at SPI.

The Indian-based solar manufacturer picked up the gong for leading renewable energy manufacturer in the solar category on the eve of the REI show.