Uzbekistan launches rebate program for rooftop PV
The Uzbek government last week opened a rooftop solar program which provides 30% of the initial costs for buying and installing a PV system, up to around $320 per project. Tax incentives are also available.
Afghanistan issues 40 MW solar tender
The nation’s Ministry of Energy and Water is seeking developers for a plant on an industrial park at the center of a previous 40 MW procurement exercise.
Scatec reaches commercial operation for another 112 MW of capacity
The Norwegian developer has opened plants in Ukraine and Egypt. Scatec Solar recently announced it managed to triple energy production in the last year.
Pakistan’s Nepra mulls another 50 MW of solar
The country is steadily expanding solar generation capacity as it aims for 5 GW by 2022, helped by an influx of foreign investment from China’s Belt & Road infrastructure program and World Bank capital.
Octopus adds 300,000 customers and launches community energy JV
Another large scale transaction by the electricity and gas supplier has enhanced its standing in the U.K. energy market, with the business now counting more than one million customers.
New solar installation in Uruguayan Antarctic
Inverter company ABB supplied equipment for a second PV plant at the Artigas base. Its collaboration with the Uruguayan Antarctic Institute helps facilitate climate change research.
BayWa r.e. and Statkraft sign another power deal for subsidy free PV in Spain
Following their first strike with the 175 MW Don Rodrigo plant near Seville, the two companies have done it again by signing a long-term power supply deal for subsidy-free PV. This time it is for a 50 MW site under construction.
Jinko: ‘The days of mono will soon be behind us’
A spokeswoman from the Chinese manufacturer of the Swan series of double-sided solar panels says monofacial modules will soon be consigned to residential use as the price gap between them and higher-yielding bifacial products rapidly closes.
Balancing solar with agriculture in the US Midwest
Today we have heard of farmers in Australia unhappy at the approval given for three solar projects on agricultural land and also learned the benefits PV can bring for fish and shrimp farmers. In this op-ed for pv magazine USA, Stoel Rives LLP attorneys Sara Bergan and Thomas Braun discuss the balancing act to be made between solar and agriculture in the emerging Midwestern PV market.
Shrimp and PV goes together like peas and carrots
With the benefits solar panels can bring to cropland being considered in Europe, PV and aquaculture are working in tandem in Vietnam. Shrimp and fish farming requires land and lots of water but solar panels are helping mitigate those demands.
