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Solar households in Austin can sell, but not consume, the PV power they generate while having to buy electricity from the utility. The scheme also increases costs for homeowners, say critics.

Built and owned by Sunpower, the project is designed to generate 33 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year, compared to total campus electricity use of 228 million kilowatt hours in 2013-14.

Despite the self-congratulatory mood, critics attack gathering of 120 world leaders for failing to rise to the challenge of climate change.

Impacts to utility shareholder earnings and return on equity can vary greatly but can also be mitigated through a range of measures, according to analysts.

CEO interview: Bill Watkins, CEO of Imergy Power Systems, speaks exclusively with pv magazine about the company’s vanadium-based flow battery energy storage products and why they make sense for PV developers. Imergy is headquartered in Fremont, California, and has operations in Gurgaon, India.

The company will supply solar power at US$0.18 per kW hour to the grid, with completion expected early 2015.

Aimed at increasing access to sustainable energy sources globally, the EU will allocate more than EUR 3.3 billion ($4.2 billion) in grants in the next six years. Some EUR 2 billion will benefit African countries.

The solar company will construct, engineer and procure the entire project, located in the state’s Bladen County, for Duke Energy.

Despite a booming market in Japan, the world’s fourth-largest inverter maker has expanded to the United States, and IHS says that it expects more inverter companies to follow suit.

The state of California and U.S. federal officials have released the latest draft of their plan for renewable energy in the California desert, which environmentalists say does not go far enough to protect biologically sensitive areas.