Pay-as-you-go solar startup receives $5m from EU
PEG Africa, a company offering pay-as-you-go solar to consumers and businesses in West Africa has received a $5 million investment from European Union initiative ElectriFi. The company says it has now secured more than $50 million and plans a major expansion.
Space age solar solution moves toward production
A consortium of European research institutes has received €10.6 million in EU funding to establish pilot production of a high efficiency module concept developed by Swiss startup Insolight. The module combines high efficiency multijunction cells with a solar concentrator lens and has previously demonstrated 29% efficiency.
German scientists team up for perovskite tandem cells
Two of Germany’s leading research institutes and a CIGS module maker have announced plans to work on the development of perovskite-CIGS tandem cells with a target of producing thin film modules with better than 30% efficiency.
Mini series: LatAm’s early PV leader, with enormous DG potential
The early development of PV projects in Latin America was spearheaded by one country: Chile. And while there remain prospects for large-scale project development, its distributed generation segment has the potential for enormous growth, says Marcela Puntí Martín, the general manager of the Chilean Solar Energy Association (ACESOL).
Dutch government treats 21 municipalities to smart EV chargers
Vehicle-to-grid functions could soon become increasingly important. While policymakers discuss the necessary regulations in other nations, the Netherlands government is motoring ahead with the technology.
‘Explosive growth’ ahead for Chinese PV predicts Solargiga
The Chinese manufacturer is holding out hope a boom that is expected to start imminently will help it turnaround losses that forced it to issue a profit warning last week. Getting its new production line in Qujing up to speed will help, provided the demand materializes.
Rajasthan eyes 50 GW of solar within six years
The Indian state plans to achieve half the amount by 2021-22 under its new draft solar policy. The package also suggests establishing a research hub, privately financed solar parks and encouraging commercial self-consumption of clean energy.
Japan’s fourth solar auction concludes with lowest bid of $0.098/kWh
The tender produced lower bids than previous rounds but again allocated less generation capacity than planned. The Japanese government initially accepted bids for a combined 589.9 MW but ended up assigning only 195.8 MW of capacity. The final average price for procured solar power was $0.1222/kWh.
Building a successful renewables auction in Colombia
pv magazine publisher Eckhart Gouras spoke to Carolina Obando, regulatory coordinator at renewable energy association SER Colombia, to discuss the country’s first renewable energy auction. The delayed tender promises to boost a solar industry with a 4.3 GW pipeline.
Singyes $198m bail-out goes through
The solar manufacturer and project developer appears to have secured a crucial rescue package funded by Chinese state-backed Water Development (HK) and has persuaded the holders of most of its $430 million in defaulted debt to accept a restructuring plan. Next up, the Hong Kong High Court.
