Markets

A strong dollar and Chinese share volatility hampered renewables investment last quarter. But plunge in VC funding indicates solar has gone mainstream, says BNEF.

Solar may have achieved that magical combination of cheap and sexy but the industry is wracked by turmoil in China. No wonder the weekly digest is attracting such a following.

Chinese panel maker is trying to kill a rumor it has been forced, by debts, to halt production. Yingli will supply panels exclusively for Latin America’s largest PV-CSP hybrids.

White House outlines proposals to install more solar panels on more than 50,000 low-income households with the use of $520 million of federal money.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif signs agreement with Norway’s Scatec Solar in Olso to jointly develop 150 MW of solar power plants in Pakistan, together with Nizam Energy.

The Springbok 1 Solar Farm, located in Kern County, will become one of the largest PV plants in the region once complete, Swinerton Builders is acting as the EPC.

Berkshire Hathaway’s NV Energy strikes PPA price of 3.87 cents per kWh for electricity generated by First Solar’s 100 MW Playa Solar 2 project, according to Bloomberg.

The International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, to steer the funds towards Alcazar Energy, a power company that will develop solar and wind projects in the region.

Following speculation, Intersolar Europe and EU PVSEC will join forces in June 2016. The merger will see the Intersolar tradeshow and storage conference run concurently with, yet independently from, EU PVSEC’s R&D conference.

Younicos has announced it will double its workforce by 2017, adding new jobs in both Germany and the U.S., in response to the expected “exponential” growth in the energy storage market. Overall, the battery specialist has a 4 GW project pipeline.