Wallonia’s controversial residential PV fee may only apply to new systems
The energy regulator of Belgium’s French-speaking region has announced the fee for residential PV will come into force next year and may apply only to installations grid-connected after July 1 this year, as proposed by the regional government.
California rooftop legislation lifts order book for Swedish equipment supplier
CIGS thin-film production equipment company Midsummer posted record orders in 2018. With a U.S. partner, the company noted uptake was partly due to Californian requirements to integrate PV into all new (low-rise) buildings from next year.
China ready to set 3 GW quota for residential solar in 2019
Sources have told pv magazine the authorities are ready to restart the nation’s residential rooftop segment and have also agreed upon subsidy payments for other distributed generation and utility-scale projects.
Australia to lead world in residential battery uptake in 2019
More than 70,000 Australian households will install battery storage this year, according to the Bloomberg New Energy Finance. With the nation’s storage demand set to triple, Australia is expected to make up 30% of global demand.
Sungrow on the MENA market: “Of course, the bigger, the better”
Having equipped a three-digit MW volume of large scale and distributed generation projects throughout the region, Sungrow is ready for a rapid regional expansion. EMEA general manager Derek Huang told pv magazine at the World Future Energy Summit about his expectations across all market segments.
Brazilian energy regulator recommends keeping incentives for distributed solar
Although power companies have urged the new administration of Jair Bolsonaro to reduce incentives for net metered solar distributed generation, ANEEL has proposed maintaining them until PV reaches a certain proportion of the electricity sector.
‘No alternative to 100% renewables’
Transition to a world run entirely on clean energy – together with the implementation of natural climate solutions – is the only way to halt climate change and keep the global temperature rise below 1.5°C, according to another significant study.
Solar installations see an unprecedented boom in Estonia
The Baltic nation installed 90 MW of PV last year, four times more than it had done since it began adopting solar. The growth was down to a new regulation issued by the government in June and the big push came mainly from small installations.
EU heeds call for priority dispatch for small-scale generators
Homeowners and businesses with small-scale solar arrays have fought off a threat to priority treatment for excess energy they want fed back into national grids. The EU has refused to heed a call to treat such generators on the same terms as giant utilities.
Romania’s solar rooftop rebate scheme ready to kick off
From Friday, Romanian homeowners and businesses may file applications for rebates that could cover up to 90% of the cost of rooftop arrays, provided the grant does not exceed $4,830. Applications will be accepted until March 1.
