Strategic Alliances

Following on from a partnership in 2017, Kostal and BYD are looking to further strengthen their ties under a new deal, which will see them provide storage solutions to the residential and commercial solar segments.

Canadian Solar Inc. says it has entered into agreements with Dr. Shawn Qu and several unidentified potential equity partners regarding the plans to take the manufacturer private. It has also sold 30 MW worth of PV plants to its infrastructure fund in Japan.

Twelve signatories from the energy and consumer goods industry have sent an open letter to the EU and U.K., calling for continued cooperation after Brexit to protect both consumer, and business, interests. The document highlights the importance of tariff-free electricity trading as intermittent renewable energy will require a higher degree of market integration.

According to South African research institute CSIR, the southeast African nation may raise its target for rooftop solar to 50,000 installations by 2030. The institute is seeking consultants to define the future solar roadmap for the country.

Chinese solar manufacturer reports a similar scale of first-half losses to the $15m profit it posted this time last year. Will the company’s decision to almost double module production capacity prove an inspired move or a mistimed disaster?

China’s Jiangsu Akcome Science and Technology has revealed plans to sell 503.5 MW of solar to Zhejiang Provincial Energy Group (ZPEG), as it struggles to rein in its debts.

The EPC has been operating in the Dutch market for a while. It expects to commission 150 MW of solar PV over the next two to three years. In related news, a total of 772 dairy farms are participating in the FrieslandCampina Solar program.

The market experienced strong growth in nearly all states. Scandinavian countries lead the charge, but Germany showed strong growth in the first half of 2018, analysts report. An uptake in EV sales might result in profound effects on their use as flexible storage units, recent reports and interviews suggest.

The Stuttgart-based industrial group wants to work on technology development and production with the British fuel cell manufacturer. Bosch considers highly efficient fuel cells an important step forward in the energy transition.