Markets

A solar spending spree, president Obama takes a personal interest in Caribbean solar and good news from the Azores. Plus the ever-fearless pv mag pokes a stick at the Russian bear and Big Brother Google.

Report released by Ernst & Young says that China needs at least RMB1.58 trillion (US$255 billion) in to achieve the investment target for both solar and wind installations, within which at least RMB522 billion ($84 billion) needed for the distributed PV.

The Chinese company continues its global expansion with a market debut in the Southeast Asian country following a major new project in the Middle East.

A cleanweb startup that allows solar installers to outsource engineering and system design has closed a second round of financing to fund its growth. GreenLancer is expanding it software team, enabled through closing a $5 million B Round.

The government is looking to build three large-scale solar plants and a wind power station in several provinces and is offering incentives to potential foreign investors to take on the projects.

Ranked as a top tier module by Germany’s VDE Institute, Suntech’s four busbar module generates more power and offers increased efficiency.

In its second major global project agreement this week, SPI has picked up a raft of solar PV projects across four Japanese prefectures.

As part of the PowerMatching City pilot project, a community of 40 households used solar panels, micro CHP plants and heat pumps to provide their own electricity and heat their own water. They also used smart software to share electricity with neighbors. The experiment was the first of its kind in the world.

The North American utility is expanding its renewable energy portfolio in Canada and the United States.

Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota, is going to purchase sufficient solar power from SunEdison to offset 100% of its electricity consumption. A 25-year PPA has been signed saving the college “million of dollars.” The solar arrays will begin commercial operation in 2016.