Installations

Four renewable energy associations in Spain have joined forces to oppose implementation of the Spanish government’s new decree, which “retroactively aggravates initial investment conditions” for developers of photovoltaic installations and other renewable energy plants.

A report into the electricity bill savings available from residential photovoltaics in the U.S. has come up with some surprising conclusions. For instance, the more solar penetrates the energy mix, the lower the savings available from rooftop systems, although that is not the whole story.

Belgian Renewable Energies Association, Apere, announced yesterday that Belgium surpassed 2.6 GW of installed photovoltaic capacity at the end of 2012. Overall, the renewable energy accounts for 2.8% of the country’s total electricity consumption.

PPC Renewables has announced three tenders for a 50 MW photovoltaic project in Greece. If the park is completed by this October, it will secure a tariff of €0.392/kWh.

Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) forecasts that large-scale photovoltaic systems will supply energy cheaper than coal and gas by 2020 in Australia. Already, it states, wind farms are supplying energy cheaper than its fossil fuel counterparts.

The U.S. has requested World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement consultations with the Indian Government regarding India’s solar photovoltaic domestic content requirements (DCR). Industry association SEIA has come out in support of the move.

The sky is the limit for photovoltaic market growth, which is expected to more than triple by 2020, according to a report just released by London-based research firm GlobalData. It says growth is being stimulated by two major forces. Challenges are present, however, including issues over existing grid infrastructure.

Thailand-based Siam Solar Energy 1 Co., Ltd (SSE) has contracted Conergy AG to install three photovoltaic plants worth 31.5 MW. It is the second such project to be undertaken by the German company for Thai Solar Energy Company Limited subsidiary, SSE.

Ash Sharma, director of solar research at IHS Solar forecasts double digit growth in photovoltaic power optimizers over the next two years, despite the fact they are not said to be economical in well-designed installations. In the following interview, he discusses the market with pv magazine.

The Greek photovoltaic market was worth around €523 million in 2012 – over double that of 2011 – according to a recent report published by Greek consultancy Stochasis Management Ltd. The figure corresponds to an average annual growth rate of 196.8% for the years 2009 to 2012.