Utility Scale PV

In a new report, Berkeley Lab describes recent legislative revisions, key policy design features, compliance with interim targets, past and projected impacts on renewables development, and compliance costs.

India’s cumulative installed solar capacity stood at 41.6 GW as of Dec. 31, 2020, with 1.29 GW added in the October-December period. Capacity additions in the first quarter of this year could surpass 2 GW.

The rooftop segment was once again the main growth driver in the German PV sector. The feed-in tariff for PV systems not exceeding 10 kW in size will drop under the €0.08/kWh for the first time.

EDF and Oceanus plan to build a pumped hydro storage station and a desalination system powered by wind and solar. The system will use saltwater to produce hydropower during periods of high demand, while producing affordable freshwater.

Distributed Solar Development­­ has built a solar carport for IKEA in Baltimore. It will also handle the furniture giant’s other projects in Maryland and California.

Sun Cable’s ambitious 13 GW Australia-ASEAN Power Link, which is designed to export solar electricity from Australia’s Northern Territory to Singapore, continues to shine bright, with the Australian government including the mega-project on its Priority Initiative List.

The thin-film module manufacturer achieved a turnover of $2.7 billion and a profit of $400 million last year. The company also revealed that it is evaluating further U.S. manufacturing expansion, “contingent on the right policy environment.”

Turkish researchers have developed an algorithm to distinguish faults and changes in PV plant output. The sensorless method only uses electrical data gathered from the DC inputs of inverters. They tested it on 8.5 MW of ground-mount PV at nine sites, as well as 8.2 MW across 18 rooftops.

Goodwe and Irico have both announced rising revenue and profits for the fiscal year 2020. Zhonghuan Semiconductor intends to produce thinner wafers to respond to increasing polyisilicon prices. The southwestern province of Yunnan wants to add another 15 GW of clean energy to its power generation mix.

According to new forecasts from AECEA, China may see strong development of large-scale solar plants this year, due to a massive pipeline of unsubsidized projects. Furthermore, the distributed generation segment will be boosted by incentives provided by the national and regional governments.