Markets

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is offering grants from $10,000 to $250,000 in the second funding round of the Regional Off-Grid Electricity Access Project (ROGEAP) to develop off-grid solar in 13 West African and sub-Saharan African countries. The application deadline is June 23.

Solar Energy Corp. of India (SECI) has kicked off 2.4 GW of renewables tenders, including a 1.2 GW procurement exercise and a 1.2 GW round.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is set to vote on a revised proposed decision that fails to seize on the opportunity to create a vibrant community solar market.

The latest government installation figures reveal a slower start to the year for the United Kingdom, with small-scale installations accounting for the majority of additions. As the UK General Election approaches, there are calls from industry for the next government to act quickly on the issues hindering capacity expansion.

The draft parameters for this year’s capacity market auction in Poland could make the rollout of battery energy storage systems (BESS) much more difficult. The document proposes a significant reduction to the BESS derating factor that could be particularly harmful for longer duration storage systems.

The Chinese PV industry has benefited from the availability of substantial finance over the past two decades, supporting the development of the renewable, zero-carbon capability essential for meeting the goals of the Paris climate agreement. Easy access to finance has led to unsustainably low prices and unnecessary losses, however, impacting China’s ability to sustain support for renewable energy systems. As the nation expands clean power installations and enhances grid-balancing capacity, maintaining consistent financial support has become more challenging.

JinkoSolar says it has achieved a 33.24% efficiency rating for its perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells, confirmed by the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

This week, Women in Solar Europe (WiSEu) gives voice to María Santa María, Head of Projects at BayWa r.e. Iberia. She says that diversity and Inclusion are worth the central stage in a company’s hiring practices and board representation. She also claims that organizations and industry stakeholders have lots to gain by explicitly and outspokenly prioritizing equity and inclusion to create a more inclusive environment for women and other underrepresented groups.

Chinese wafer manufacturer TCL Zhonghuan says it wants to invest around $197.5 million to increase its stake in Maxeon from 22.39% to at least 50.1%. A Maxeon spokesperson told pv magazine that the plan would place the company in a solid financial position.

The European Commission has approved €1.4 billion ($1.5 billion) for hydrogen projects, investing in 13 initiatives under the fourth Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI), to advance hydrogen technology in mobility and transport applications.