Crop yield rises with solar-powered irrigation
PV systems have helped farmers in the Philippines become less dependent on rain. Projects in Camarines Sur have shown pumping water with solar is not only cheap but can also raise rice yield.
Central Bank of Brazil launches two more solar tenders
Brazil’s biggest lender wants to secure solar power through a leasing arrangement. The central bank expects to buy around 8 GWh of electricity per year for its agencies in the state of Bahia and another 2 GWh in Ceará.
Czechia wants another 1.9 GW of solar by 2030
The raised renewable energy ambition has been dismissed by the domestic solar association, which accuses president Miloš Zeman of wanting to destroy the Czech PV sector. In 2019, the country added only 7 MW of new PV installations.
China added 12 GW of solar last month for 30 GW annual figure
An insider at the China Photovoltaic Industry Association has told pv magazine there was an end-of-year rally after less than 18 GW of new capacity was installed to the end of November.
China holds firm on strategy to build self-sufficient domestic polysilicon industry
The Chinese government will extend duties on U.S. and South Korean polysilicon for another five years from today despite committing to buy $200 billion more American goods and services in the trade deal signed on Wednesday. Poly manufacturer REC Silicon says it expects polysilicon to form part of that trade agreement.
A clean energy world would support millions of new jobs
A study from Finland’s Lappeenranta University of Technology has predicted solar and other renewables can provide a global energy jobs revolution – just as four European operations revealed recent struggles.
German development bank to fund Bangladesh canal-top PV study
Renewables authority official tells pv magazine the nation’s irrigation canals could host almost 1 GW of solar generation capacity.
Total and Marubeni win Qatar’s 800 MW solar tender
The resulting project will sell power to Qatar General Electricity and Water Corp under a 25-year power supply deal. French oil and gas giant Total and Japanese conglomerate Marubeni will hold a combined 40% stake in the power plant, which will be built near Doha, the Qatari capital.
Turkish solar reaches 6 GW
The nation deployed around 923 MW of new solar last year. Around 350 MW came in the form of unlicensed projects given an extension to their grid-connection deadlines.
The weekend read: Your guide to market growth in 2020
Some 15 countries are likely to be able to lay claim to the status of being members of solar’s “gigawatt club” in 2019, according to conservative projections from BloombergNEF. Nonetheless, PV suppliers, developers and service providers are always on the lookout for new pockets of growth. To kick off 2020, pv magazine’s global team of correspondents and editors have highlighted 10 “fast-growing” solar markets to evaluate where the opportunities, and potential risks, lie.
