Policy

The Global Solar Council (GSC) held its general assembly at last week’s Solar Power International (SPI) in California, where it announced new board members and said it will work towards crafting a unified message for the solar industry. All five working committees of the council are expected to contribute to this new task.

Looking at a scenario, in which the Spanish residential solar market is booming again, energy consultancy, ecoSynergies finds that the energy system could save billions, both in terms of CO2, and fuel and grid costs. Additionally, introducing the EU’s suggestion to fairly compensate prosumers for their surplus energy, would allow households to slash payback times for their solar systems by more than a half. In some cases, the amortization period could go down from 25 to seven years.

Lebanon’s International Beirut Energy Forum (IBEF) 2018, which took place last week in the country’s capital, saw the announcement of various solar tenders that depict the domestic PV sector’s take off.

Selected projects, which have a combined capacity of 338 MW, are scheduled to begin delivering power in January 2022 under a 20-year PPA.

Bernard McNamee has gone so far as to write an Earth Day op-ed on the benefits of fossil fuels. Coal bailout, here we come.

The All-Energy Australia 2018 exhibition & conference kicked off in Melbourne today. Safety of products and quality assurance was prominent in discussions at the country’s largest PV conference and trade show in its early hours. Big funding announcements at the opening plenary made headlines.

The Government of Alberta has opened Requests for Proposals (RfPs) for 135,000 MWh of solar – equivalent to around 55% of its annual electricity generation.

Heated opposition to a legislative bill in the Philippines has sparked debate over subsidies for renewables and the potential for battery-backed PV systems to expand rural electricity access.

India’s Prime Minister kick started the first Assembly of the ISA, the second IORA Renewable Energy Ministerial Meeting, and the 2nd Global RE-Invest yesterday in Greater Noida. The agenda of the day? Universal access to solar energy at affordable rates; securing 40% of India’s electricity generation from non-fossil fuels by 2030, and allocating up to US$80 billion to boost domestic PV manufacturing.

Though lauded at times as a water-saving technology, PV’s concentration in arid and remote regions, in conjunction with inefficient cleaning methods, can exacerbate water scarcity and prompt rising water tariffs for plant operators, according to a new report on Indian PV installations, published by analysts Bridge to India.