Finance

The U.S. Department of Energy has issued a plan to slash the soft costs of solar by 2020. The new reports focuses on the non-hardware costs of residential and small commercial projects, but makes no mention of company profits.

The skylight, for Novartis Pharmaceuticals, comprises 820 PV modules and will produce enough electricity to power the equivalent of 600 homes, Onyx Solar says.

Spain’s PV industry body UNEF says generators will lose a fifth of the payments they could have expected from 2010 to 2020. The reductions are part of the Madrid government’s determination to reduce renewables subsidies.

The Chinese manufacturer has negotiated a 30-day window relating to overdue interest on bond notes. With $4.4 billion of short-term debt at the end of August, LDK has some tough talks ahead.

Chinese polysilicon manufacturer GCL Poly has announced a delay in its plans to acquire an equity stake in solar developer Fengxian Huize. A busy day also saw the company’s CFO resign.

Adding wind and solar power to the grid is more cost-effective than switching fossil-fueled power plants on and off to make up for the intermittent nature of renewable energy, says the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

K. Sivadasan, researcher and renewable energy expert, has criticized India’s National Solar Mission for failing to focus on the infrastructure required to adequately meet its lofty objectives.

The Philippines is on course to more than double its solar capacity to 5 MW before the end of 2013, according to the Philippine Solar Power Alliance (PSPA).

Homeowners with solar panels that feed into the grid are getting too good a deal, say some state utilities, with plans afoot to readdress the balance.

The Emirates Solar Industry Association has been renamed as the Middle East Solar Industry Association (Mesia) in anticipation of expected growth in the region.