Residential PV

The nation’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has reiterated that clean energy projects have not been affected by falling electricity demand as a billion citizens have been ordered to stay at home.

French start-up Solaire Box has raised €1.5 million to back its business supplying wooden houses complete with PV rooftops. The buildings cost €1,700-2,000/m² and feature PV modules made by French firm Systovi. The company plans add to add features such as energy storage systems and carbon-free heating.

Australia’s previously booming rooftop PV market is likely to see a steep decline in the face of Covid-19-related shutdowns and uncertainty. An industry survey by pv magazine and Green Energy Markets prompted around half the respondents to report declines of 25-50% in customer enquiries, with a further 20% reporting new leads have dried up.

In light of the slew of trade shows and industry events canceled over the Covid-19 pandemic, solar companies and industry leaders have moved online, with virtual presentations, information sessions, and product debuts to get you through quarantine.

Industry body SolarPower Europe hosted a webinar to consider how the global public health crisis will affect solar. While workers and materials are still available, industry experts are concerned about the state of the financial sector. Banks could become more conservative and raise the cost of capital for renewables projects.

Grenergy was this week due to ship 400,000 face masks to Latin America as European developers today voiced a fear project finance will become increasingly difficult to find as the coronavirus lockdown continues.

With its sonnenVPP, German battery company Sonnen wants to improve the efficiency of virtual power plants which it says can offer primary balancing energy from houses with solar and storage and can operate up to 90% more cost-effectively.

Scientists at the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory are developing a communication system to coordinate and control the volumes of solar power injected into grids by small scale solar arrays.

Hanoi has set new feed-in tariff rates for utility-scale, rooftop and floating PV projects, ending a long period of policy uncertainty. The government has announced the new rates, which are broadly in line with industry expectations, roughly 10 months after the expiration of its old tariffs.

Sunrun laid off about 100 employees last week, according to Business Insider, which reported that furloughed staff will continue to receive benefits for three months.