Markets & Policy

Solar has a small but increasingly important role to play in the Nordic energy transition. And while there is still a gap in PV cost-competitiveness across some markets, interest in solar facades, BIPV solutions and C&I applications is growing.

Greece has announced plans to install two PV projects at mining sites. The installations are part of the national utility’s new strategy, in line with the country’s efforts to phase out coal.

Polish power providers Enea and Energa have suspended construction financing for a new 1 GW coal power plant in northeastern Poland. According to the Europe Beyond Coal campaign, this could mark the beginning of the end for the $1.6 billion project. The two companies said their decision depended mostly on the new EU policy for the electricity sector and a lack of external financing.

An unusually profitable fourth quarter has anchored an even rarer profitable year for SunPower, bolstering growing confidence in its decision to spin off its module manufacturing business into Maxeon Solar Technologies.

And so it is again. With the new decade, pv magazine brings forth yet another energy storage highlights. Approximately two weeks of work went into sifting through this year’s 22 highlights submissions, conducting research, and preparing them for the jury. Once again, this year’s work was crowned by the moderation of the jury meeting, in which six leading industry experts discussed the technologies and solutions. Differing from previous years, the jurors have selected the top five “Gigawatt” winners, followed by five “Megawatt” winners, and a series of “Finalists” which will be published in the coming weeks, leading up to Energy Storage Europe.

F Cubed, an Australian company that specializes in solar-powered desalination systems, has landed a contract valued at almost $5 million to supply 1,140 units that will provide clean drinking water to around 30,000 people in Bangladesh.

As the outbreak takes its toll on solar panel and battery manufacturing in China, Australia is bracing for disruptions in the supply chain.

From pv magazine February edition California’s new residential solar mandate, effective from the first day of 2020, is going to add more than 1 GW of PV over the next five years, according to analysts. The US state already has a nation-leading 26.2 GW cumulative PV installed base. The new solar building code is directed […]

The one-off charge for PV systems with generation capacities of 10-100 kW will be almost halved. The fee levied on 100 kW-1 MW arrays will come down by 1-30.7%, depending on system size.

Trade body the Silver Institute says silver demand in the solar industry will dip slightly this year but remain near to previous record highs. Silver paste consumption for PV has been reduced due to advances in metallization techniques.