Markets

For the past few years, Japan’s solar industry insiders have been eyeing 2019 as a year of transition in the residential rooftop market, as the original 10 year feed-in tariffs come to an end. So, what will this post-FIT landscape look like, and how are Japan’s leading PV suppliers preparing for the future? Hanwha Q Cells’ Japan Marketing Manager Junichi Katayama breaks down the main points.

pv magazine’s Charles Thurston has written about the potential of solar carports in this month’s, hot-off-the-presses edition of the magazine. As a taster, here’s a few extra points on the topic that came in too late for the print deadline.

The new CEO of SolarPower Europe, Walburga Hemetsberger, explained her goals for the development of the European solar industry in the next 10 years when interviewed by pv magazine during the association’s SolarPower Summit in Brussels.

Real estate and logistics company owner Cheung Shun Lee is making a third attempt to relist a company whose shares have been suspended for five-and-a-half years, and whose corporate history during that time reads like a soap opera.

In both Belgium and Chile, the planned mandatory installation of smart meters is raising concerns among consumers, residential PV system owners and the solar industry. Although seen as a positive, the early stages of smart meter deployment create issues related to the calculation of net metering tariffs and the management and ownership of consumption data, as well as additional costs for consumers.

The Wuhu-based solar glass maker and PV project developer expects to raise around $167 million to expand operations after diluting stock by issuing shares equivalent to just under 5% of the business.

More than 100 domestic companies are reportedly in the running for a seven-project portfolio that is expected to generate around $1.5 billion of investment – and they will fancy their chances against overseas developers.

A report commissioned by the European Climate Foundation suggests a fossil fuel-free energy system in Europe by 2050 should largely rely on smart electrification and energy efficiency. Green hydrogen deployment, the report finds, would require prohibitively expensive infrastructure investment.

Definitive data from analyst Wood Mackenzie and the Solar Energy Industries Association show tariffs taking a bite out of the U.S. market, but also a near-record number of new projects under contract.

Profits and revenues were down in a year which saw average selling prices slump – especially after the turbulence in the Chinese market – but the company’s hell-for-leather dash for production capacity expansion and aggressive cost cutting mitigated the ill effects. And there is more to come in the year ahead.