Employment

LG’s 56 MW PV park is the group’s largest in Japan and will join the string of energy schemes feeding big data into the conglomerate’s Energy Optimization Center, when it opens this year.

A team of scientists at Lausanne have calculated the costs and job impact of the 2050 Energy Strategy, in force since January. The results show the additional investment called for by the strategy is offset by savings on imported fuel and electricity.

The annual SNEC photovoltaic power expo 2018, in Shanghai, closed yesterday after the 12th edition of the world’s biggest PV exhibition. Reflecting the rapid development of China’s PV industry, the scale of SNEC increased from 15,000 sqm at the first exhibition to 180,000 sqm last year and 200,000 this year – a 10% year-on-year increase. Preliminary figures show more than 220,000 visits to this year’s edition, with more than 5,000 industry professionals attending the expo and series of high-level conferences.

The Italian developer said that the sale will enable continuity of its PV business. Funds from the transaction will be used to create a new company which will merge PV operations in Italy with those abroad

In a letter to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, more than 250 organizations and companies from EU member states have called for the termination of trade restrictions applied to Chinese PV manufacturers. The current anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tariffs – and minimum import prices for Chinese crystalline modules and cells – are due to run until 3 September

The most subscribed event at the recent International Energy and Environment Conference (ICCI), held in Turkey, concerned the host nation’s rooftop PV market – and certain common themes emerged from sessions held on the topic

Solartech Universal plans to expand its current 80 MW/year capacity by 180 MW/year. The company is seeking a facility in South Florida.

According to figures released by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), there are more than 10 million people working in the renewable energy industry. In 2017 alone, the sector added more than 500,000 jobs globally, up 5.3 % from 2016, with solar PV the biggest employer.

The evolving outlook for project finance, as well as the gradual maturation of technologies, such as blockchain, present new challenges and opportunities for renewables, EY says in its latest Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index (RECAI) report. Uncertainty in the sector continues to drive a “relentless focus on cost” to soften the impact of protectionism, subsidy cuts and rising interest rates throughout the world, it adds.

Herman Zhao resigned on March 27 from his role as chief financial officer for Chinese solar firm, JA Solar. The company affirmed that there had been “no issues involving its financial statements” that prompted the move.