Residential PV

By 2025, the furniture giant plans to offer solar panels worldwide at its stores. The company is in negotiation with potential partners and a supplier for the sale of PV panels in Sweden, which is planned to start in the autumn.

A social housing development of 100 dwellings will benefit from the electricity generated by 600 sq meters of PV panels. Any output not used by residents will power hot water tanks, effectively functioning as an energy storage element of the project.

Having declared a climate emergency last week, the U.K. government is considering raising VAT rates from 5% to 20% on ‘energy saving materials’ in the home. While the tax authorities are blaming Europe, trade body the REA has pointed out the 5% rate would still apply for coal used for domestic heating.

After two decades of growth, the amount of newly installed renewable energy capacity is no longer rising and, despite a 7% growth in electricity generation from clean energy sources, global energy-related carbon emissions have risen 1.7%.

Though PV will remain in the shadow of wind and hydropower in the north of Europe, an ambitious solar deployment scenario in Sweden could lift the market into the gigawatt club through to 2040.

New PV installations under the nation’s net metering scheme grew 137% year-on-year from January to March, according to consultancy Greener, and module imports registered even greater growth, signalling activity in the distributed generation segment is increasing at a faster pace. With the regulator mooting changes to the net metering regime, however, it may reflect customers rushing to secure current tariffs.

Karnataka state has been forced to apply the brakes to new solar with its power distribution companies having fulfilled their renewable purchase obligations for the next two years. Projects driven by federal agencies will continue, however.

High-profile CEO Elon Musk has delivered on his promise to slash prices for residential solar. And the company’s reduction of prices to as low as $1.75/W after the federal tax credit is applied is likely a result of the move to online sales.

The feed-in tariff granted reduces each quarter in line with how much solar capacity was installed in the previous three-month period and the drop will be felt more keenly in sun-rich Corsica and the nation’s overseas territories than on the mainland.

The strong growth registered in the first quarter of the year – when 1.27 GW of new PV was deployed – will prompt a 1.4% reduction in the FIT price for the three-month period up to July.