Markets & Policy

The coming together of three of Taiwan’s largest solar cell manufacturers has been given the green light today by the respective boards of directors of the three companies. New company United Renewable Energy Co., is expected to become a recognized entity on March 28.

Two weeks ago, the 8th World Future Energy Summit opened its doors in Abu Dhabi. The conference and trade show comprised six co-located events across the cleantech spectrum, and attracted over 33,000 visitors across four days. The rapid increase in the scale of activity within the solar sector in the region was on display throughout the show. Here are three key takeaways from WFES 2018.

Global solar installations could reach about 106 GW this year, largely on the back of high deployment in China and an anticipated demand recovery in Europe, according to a recent report.

Almost all of last year’s newly installed PV capacity comes in the form of residential PV systems not exceeding 10 kW, installed under net metering.

In what is the largest ever energy grant to be issued by the EU, France and Spain’s interconnection capabilities are to be boosted to 5 GW once an undersea cable across the Bay of Biscay is finalized.

All of the eight projects, planned for seven different regions, will be awarded a declaration of public utility. The new facilities are expected to improve the country’s power supply, which still relies heavily on fossil fuels and imports.

The Norwegian developer had 322 MW of PV projects in operation and 394 MW under construction at the end of the fourth quarter of last year.

The Spanish solar power producer and developer has announced it will refinance 11 of its Spanish projects with its first unrated bond issuance.

By reinforcing the anode’s structure with graphene girders, researchers at the U.K.’s University of Warwick have found an effective approach to replacing graphite in the anodes using silicon, thus boosting the capacity of lithium-ion batteries, and more than doubling lifespans.