Off-grid solar sector witnesses sales of 4.1 million products in six months
Industry body Gogla and the World Bank’s Lighting Global program said the last six months set a record for off-grid solar deployment. Solar home systems and other small off-grid appliances are being used in ever larger numbers.
Indonesia improves rules for rooftop PV
The government has amended two regulations and introduced a new one to spur development of rooftop PV. The new provisions increase the size of systems eligible for net metering payments and reduce fees for industrial installations.
When are solar panels acceptable on historic buildings?
A study from Sweden seeks to consider how PV could be sympathetically installed on historic buildings. The researchers propose a target-based approach for assessing panel visibility.
Algerian 150 MW solar tender secures final price of $0.069/kWh – and only a third of the capacity
The Algerian Electricity and Gas Regulation Commission has concluded a tender launched in June. The one solar project selected will sell power at DZD8.28/kWh. The authority reportedly only published ceiling prices for energy bids on the day the exercise was completed.
Kosovo preps 50 MW solar tender
The Balkan nation is planning a tender for 50 MW of utility scale solar capacity on a public-private partnership basis with help from the International Finance Corporation. The World Bank’s private finance arm is procuring a technical, environmental and social consulting firm to advise on the project.
Investment firm buys 320 MW of renewable energy capacity in Italy
Italian fund Green Arrow Capital has acquired the extensive solar and wind power generation portfolio from London-based Quercus Investment Partners. The value of the transaction was not disclosed.
PV to address water scarcity
The government of the Philippines will spend $500 million on solar-powered water supply and desalination in remote areas of Mindanao, the second-largest island in the archipelago. Elsewhere, a Finnish study has suggested drought-hit Iran could benefit from renewable-powered desalination.
Swedish Solar Expo touts solar and hydrogen community project
Where seasonal storage is paramount, hydrogen comes into play. Under-the-radar solar market Sweden has presented its hydrogen projects and technological solutions to overcome the country’s natural solar barriers.
China installed 920 MW of household solar last month
Hopes are high up to 5 GW of residential solar capacity will have been added by the time this month’s figures are added, as the household solar feed-in tariff still applies – but only until Thursday. However, the AECEA consultancy has again revised down its overall new capacity expectation for the year.
Eswatini 40 MW solar tender attracts 13 approved bidders
The regulator received 26 proposals overall for a project intended to make the kingdom less dependent on power imports from troubled South African utility Eskom.
