Policy

Solar industry veteran Jigar Shah, the director of the US Department of Energy’s (DoE) Loan Programs Office, says that virtual power plants are the path to success, as solar net metering now faces an uncertain future.

Almost every weekend since Easter, European generators have been paid to power down plants but some Northern European nations are experiencing record electricity prices. An energy system set up for fossil fuels is in urgent need of reform, according to Gerard Reid, co-founder and partner of Alexa Capital.

Practical matters, beyond simply improving on solar cell efficiency, have led the agenda at the European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference (EUPVSEC) going on this week in Lisbon. Policy and the geopolitics of solar manufacturing is the big question on everybody’s lips as the event passes its halfway point today. Concerns including grid integration, critical materials consumption, and public acceptance are all being aired frequently – illustrating a closer than ever link between work being done in the labs at solar energy institutes and the everyday lives and energy consumption of people in Europe and around the world.

A Swedish research group has found that using deep machine learning to identify solar energy systems in aerial images may not be so accurate in non-densely populated countries such as Sweden. They have also found, however, that this technique may be trained via an iterative process and achieve satisfying results.

In its latestt monthly column for pv magazine, the International Renewable Energy Agency explains that, in order to realize Africa’s vast potential, we must ensure there is adequate investment and infrastructure development to support renewable energy. In the coming years, this means urgently overcoming the structural barriers across three priorities: infrastructure, policy, and institutional capabilities.

As the 40th edition of the European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (EUPVSEC) gets underway in Lisbon today, it’s clear that European PV manufacturing faces some difficult challenges in the current climate of low prices and strong competition on all sides. Nonetheless, the show is already revealing plenty of optimism among the continent’s PV manufacturing players.

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said in the 2023 State of the Union Address this week that European solar manufacturers face stiff competition from heavily subsidized Chinese rivals and noted that the bloc is launching an anti-subsidy investigation into electric vehicles from the country.

BloombergNEF Senior Analyst Jenny Chase and Aurora Energy Research Renewables Lead Rebecca McManus speak with pv magazine about financial market trends for solar companies and the role of overcapacity as a driver of turbulence in the industry.

Israel has announced plans to deploy 2 GW of grid-connected renewables. It will allow for additional renewable plants to be built without causing grid congestion, based on specific parameters.

Researchers in Australia have provided a series of recommendations to set up regulatory frameworks for PV module recycling and reuse. They said that, as a rule of thumb, landfill bans, tracking of the panels’ serial numbers, and a clear definition of ownership should always be included in the legislation for end-of-life solar products.