Markets & Policy

Invenergy plans to maintain day-to-day management of its renewable energy business, with the Québecois fund manager increasing its economic stake to 52%.

SMA says its new product will offer digital services such as monitoring and automatic notifications to perform maintenance as well as offering an emergency supply system. According to analysts, the varied applications of new inverters signal an increasingly competitive marketplace.

Germany-based PV-storage provider sonnen has closed a new funding round from a group of investors led by Shell Ventures. Sonnen has already began to draw on the funds as it continues to expand market shares in the U.S. and in Australia. Shell Ventures is now a major sonnen investor and future cooperation agreement has been agreed to.

Pars Reys Energy Bahar, a subsidiary of French energy company Hanau Energies Group has announced the completion of an 8.5 MW PV project in in Damavand County, 130 km from Iranian capital Tehran.

British developer Lightsource has announced the acquisition of Irish software company Ubiworx. The company is a specialist in the internet of things and has already worked closely with Lightsource over the past two years

Chilean company Cerro Dominador have announced the signing of a $758 million deal to finance the first combined concentrated solar power-PV project in Latin America – a 210 MW scheme in the Atacama desert

A new report by Rocky Mountain Institute finds that gas plants proposed across the United States over the next 15 years could be replaced by clean energy portfolios at a net savings, and that these projects are at risk of becoming stranded assets.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has announced it will work alongside the Clean Technology Fund and Asian Development Bank to provide a loan for the construction of a 50 MW solar power plant in Kazakhstan’s central Baikonur region.

In the face of actual and threatened tariffs in the US and India, the world’s biggest solar manufacturers may have to set up shop in the protectionist nations in question ahead of a predicted cooling in their home market.

Price deflation and technological innovation are helping solar transform the global electricity sector. A new report by IEEFA highlights the latest solar milestones around the world and charts important trends including the rise of floating solar and the corporate PPAs helping the tech giants ‘green’ their energy-hungry data centres.