Markets

GoodWe BIPV has identified new applications for its Vela residential solar carport. The modular unit is gaining traction in rural and small commercial settings in Australia as an alternative to ground-mounted and rooftop PV systems.

The Trump administration’s China tariffs have piled atop existing and developing trade barriers on battery energy storage systems, components, and materials – destabilizing the US energy storage industry. While existing inventories will allow project development to move forward in the short term, uncertainty extends across the supply chain, including to prospective manufacturers.

A team of researchers based in Japan and Sweden have found a correlation between higher feed-in tariffs and increased capital expenditures of solar projects in Japan. They suggest this may have led to a lack of incentive for developers to innovate or reduce costs, in turn inflating expenditure and hindering long-term market competitiveness.

UK Power Networks day-ahead flexibility market allows consumers with electric vehicles, heat pumps and batteries to participate in distribution, transmission and wholesale markets, according to the distribution system operator (DSO) for London, east and southeast England.

The three projects comprise a 160 MW solar plant, a separate 100 MW solar facility and a 100 MW floating solar array with 30 MWh of accompanying battery energy storage. They will be implemented by Chinese companies working in collaboration with Azerbaijan-based developers.

Toyo Co. has started production at its 2 GW solar cell facility in Ethiopia, with plans to deliver more than 80 MW of tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) cells by the end of April before scaling capacity to 4 GW.

Germany’s latest auction for utility-scale solar concluded with prices ranging from €0.0399 ($0.0455)/kWh to €0.0488/kWh. The procurement exercise was significantly oversubscribed.

Moldova has upheld the disqualification of four bids in its first renewables auction, citing inexperience, non-compliant bank guarantees, and missing prior approvals. The tender committee says it plans to assess the remaining bids by the end of the month.

MCS reports a record-breaking start to 2025 for certified heat pump installations, but the pace of deployment still falls short of 2028 targets. Subsidy support continues to drive heat pump adoption among UK consumers.

CleanMax has commissioned a 92.1 MW wind-solar hybrid plant in Bengaluru, India, to power US tech giant Cisco’s India campus – one of its largest hubs outside the United States.