Policy

Despite much of the world being on lockdown for a big chunk of 2020, there are few who could say it has been an uneventful year. And while the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic will be what defines 2020 for many, in the solar industry there’s plenty more to shout about, from the rapid rollout of high-powered modules to a drastic increase in carbon-neutral pledges from companies and governments around the world. Across five installments, pv magazine takes a look back at the year in solar. First up are the U.S. election and carbon neutral pledges.

Market observer IHS Markit has shared its forecast installation figures for 2021, where they expect a ‘wild ride’ for the PV industry to install 158 GW of new generation capacity. This figure amounts to 34% growth on 2020 installations, driven by completion of delayed projects from this year, as well as a generally increased appetite for PV and renewables around the world.

The Kenyan financial services business has been developing rural mini grids across Africa and has announced plans to show its rivals how such networks can thrive, in a bid to accelerate access to electricity on the continent.

The proposal includes 1 GW of solar farms on an army training base island in the estuary of the Meghna river.

New €450 million incentive regime needed to be approved under EU state aid rules.

State-owned utility PT PLN (Persero) is seeking proposals from independent power producers to build large-scale solar plants.

You’ll need to pay close attention to find the few mentions of solar in the long-awaited White Paper issued by the government to outline how it plans to hit net zero by mid century.

Each of the nations, like Greece, will have gigawatt-plus solar additions in 2024, according to Solarpower Europe, enough to carve out a 3% slice of an anticipated 35 GW regional market.

The Chinese leader has revealed some details of his nation’s commitment to go carbon neutral by 2060. That solar and wind power promise could even prove to be a conservative estimate, according to the nation’s solar industry.

Pioneering solar projects which signed ten-year feed-in tariff agreements will soon need to operate free of subsidy and with local authorities like the City of London starting to embrace direct contracts with renewables generators, the PPA market could be set for another turbo charge.