Installations

On the top of the new fiscal measure, the Swedish government has also announced that the rebate scheme for rooftop PV, which was originally scheduled to be closed this year, will be continued in 2021. It will only apply to municipalities and enterprises and with a limited budget of 260 million SEK ($29.6 million), however.

The U.S. based researchers said linking solar with hydro in a full hybrid system configuration may result – at best – in the deployment of 7,593 GW for an estimated annual power generation of 10,616 TWh and a 20% reservoir coverage. And combining solar with hydro in this way brings further benefits, including improved system operation at different time scales, more opportunities for storage thanks to pumped hydro, increased utilization rates of transmission lines, reduced PV curtailment, and lower interconnection costs and water evaporation.

The Indian authorities will award a ground-mounted, grid-connected turnkey solar+storage project via an international competitive bidding process, followed by a reverse auction. Bidding closes on Oct. 27.

Module manufacturer Trina Solar has completed the acquisition of the Spanish tracker company, inverter maker Sungrow has secured contracts from Three Gorges New Energy and Akcome Technologies has completed construction of its heterojunction cell and module factory.

Solar is regaining speed in Spain after the Covid-19 crisis. Iberdrola is now building 150 MW, while Foresight recently acquired a 26.1 MW project. FRV has secured financing for a 136 MW array, Audax plans to issue green bonds to finance its pipeline, and an 800 MW solar park is expected to provide with power Alcoa’s aluminum plant in Galicia.

Data from the Instytut Energetyki Odnawialnej shows 1.3 GW of solar projects secured preliminary grid-connection permits in the first half, with around 600 MW securing final approval. Last year, preliminary approvals totaled around 2 GW and final awards 730 MW.

A UK-German research team analyzed solar auctions in India between 2014 and 2017 and has determined that local content requirements have driven up PV costs by an average of 6% per kilowatt-hour.

BYD and Fronius have started offering the BYD Battery-Box Premium storage system and Fronius Symo GEN24 Plus inverter as a bundle. They said the combined solution can be used in residential PV arrays and light commercial systems.

8minute Solar will build the Rexford 1 Solar & Storage Center in central California, with the Clean Power Alliance serving as offtaker.

Selected projects will secure five-year power purchase agreements and will have to begin commercial operation on January 1.