The weekend read: Buyer power in a tight PV module market
Material shortages, trade restrictions, and shipping bottlenecks create challenges for PV module buyers, but the good news is that there are steps to take to ensure quality supply in a timely fashion. PVEL CEO Jenya Meydbray takes us through best practice for module buyers in the current market climate.
European Commission moves on battery skills and forced labor
The EU’s executive body will supply €10 million to the European Battery Academy program launched in Brussels yesterday which aims to train the 800,000 battery workforce it has been estimated will be required in three years’ time.
Guyana tenders for solar on public buildings
The prime minister of the South American nation, one of the most recent arrivals to the club of oil-producing states, has spelled out how his country plans to move to a low-carbon economy.
EU member states have three weeks to sign up for Europe-wide renewables tender
The European Commission’s proposed renewable energy financing mechanism would enable wealthier EU nations to fund clean energy projects in poorer neighbors rich in solar potential.
Rooftop solar price to keep rising this year
British analyst GlobalData has predicted residential and commercial rooftop panels will not return to a declining price trend until next year, with post-Covid logistics headaches the cause, rather than a polysilicon shortage.
SolarEdge reports record-breaking revenue
With comparisons with a Covid-hit 2020 inevitably offering a string of positive numbers, there was also little to concern the board of the inverter and battery manufacturer from the returns generated in the last quarter.
Nigerian mini-grid program appears to have been scaled back
An initial intent to commission 28 local solar-plus-storage networks has now been stated as comprising “around 20” mini-grids, with delivery expected this year, rather than by the middle of the year.
‘Bangladeshi energy masterplan should focus on renewables’
With the finances of national utility the Bangladesh Power Development Board in disarray thanks to rising capacity payments for often-inactive conventional power plants, renewables offer the hope of fiscal sustainability, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.
Rising electricity bills in Nigeria drive demand for solar
Commercial and industrial PV installer Starsight Energy says business is on the up thanks to rising wholesale energy costs in the country.
New poly fabs could head off first-half solar project slowdown
Norwegian analyst Rystad Energy has warned the solar industry could suffer the same effects of rising input prices as onshore wind developers grappling with ever more costly steel, with much hinging on how much solar panel raw material polysilicon can be manufactured.
