Installations

The U.S.-based company, which is now supplying solar trackers for more than 400 MW of contracted projects in the U.K., Spain and Greece, will bolster its sales presence in Europe, where it anticipates a “solar renaissance.”

The first solar project in the 1 GW dispatchable renewable energy program launched by U.K. steel billionaire Sanjeev Gupta has received development approval from the government in the state of South Australia.

In the run-up to pv magazine’s quality roundtable at Intersolar Europe, we look at a case where a production error resulted in cold solder joints in 5% of the solar modules across a 50 MW project portfolio. We consider how to come to an agreement with a manufacturer to replace modules in such a situation and how such a solution compares with a production audit before installation.

The Kingdom of Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland, has began the procurement process for 40 MW of PV capacity. The projects, which will be assigned by 2020, will also include 40 MW of biomass. The new capacity will make the kingdom less dependent on power imports from South African utility Eskom, which currently faces a financial and operational crisis.

A new $139 million partnership with Bank Australia will allow the Sustainable Melbourne Fund to help all commercial and agricultural enterprises in Australia to become more sustainable. And for many businesses, reducing electricity costs and emissions through PV is at the top of their wish lists.

Norwegian-headquartered developer Scatec Solar has announced the start of commercial operations for the Jasin Solar Plant, the second of three 65 MW projects the company is working on in Malaysia as part of a consortium led by engineering firm ITRAMAS.

Research by NREL and First Solar has produced highly accurate, real-time estimates of available aggregate peak power that a curtailed solar power plant can deliver to support the broader needs of the grid.

The sustainable projects lender wants to become a pioneer in the financing of unsubsidized PV ground mounted systems. The loans have a term of 25 years and operators need a PPA with at least five years’ maturity at a fixed price.

For installations with a generation capacity of less than 10 kW, the feed-in tariff will rise 36% to €0.165/kWh and all installations below 500 kW are set to benefit from an improved regulatory framework.