Finance

A consortium of European research institutes has received €10.6 million in EU funding to establish pilot production of a high efficiency module concept developed by Swiss startup Insolight. The module combines high efficiency multijunction cells with a solar concentrator lens and has previously demonstrated 29% efficiency.

The Chinese manufacturer is holding out hope a boom that is expected to start imminently will help it turnaround losses that forced it to issue a profit warning last week. Getting its new production line in Qujing up to speed will help, provided the demand materializes.

The Indian state plans to achieve half the amount by 2021-22 under its new draft solar policy. The package also suggests establishing a research hub, privately financed solar parks and encouraging commercial self-consumption of clean energy.

The solar manufacturer and project developer appears to have secured a crucial rescue package funded by Chinese state-backed Water Development (HK) and has persuaded the holders of most of its $430 million in defaulted debt to accept a restructuring plan. Next up, the Hong Kong High Court.

The levelized cost of energy produced by large scale PV projects ranges from €24/MWh in southern Spain to €42/MWh in Finland. New research states that is already cheaper than the average spot market electricity price and that the figure for big facilities in southern Spain may fall to €14 in 2030 and €9 in 2050.

Mathematicians at Canada’s University of Waterloo who turned their attention to solar power have developed an algorithm they say offers better control over PV plant output. The researchers estimate the algorithm could improve the output of a 100 MW power plant by almost a million kilowatt-hours per year.

The embattled solar manufacturer – which is facing a winding-up petition lodged by Deutsche Bank Hong Kong – says it failed to publish the six-month update by the weekend because of a delay in producing its annual results for last year.

The Uzbek government last week opened a rooftop solar program which provides 30% of the initial costs for buying and installing a PV system, up to around $320 per project. Tax incentives are also available.

Greece’s prime minister visited the German chancellor yesterday in Berlin and reached an agreement to set up an investment strategy that encompasses renewable energy.

The Shanghai-based solar manufacturer has maintained gross margin in a depressed domestic market by shipping ever more modules around the world and is pressing ahead with dramatic production plans on the eve of a looming solar boom.