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The audit agency said at least half the EU member states will be unable to reach their 2020 renewable energy targets, including the Netherlands, France, Ireland, Poland and the U.K. It recommends citizen participation and more renewable energy auctions to increase investment and raise volume in the EU clean energy sector. Cross border renewables trade and grid improvements are also highlighted as necessary for a successful energy transition.

A research paper from scientists at the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory outlines a new approach to the production of gallium arsenide based cells. The approach, termed ‘germanium on nothing’, could enable the cost effective, high volume production of PV cells based on III-V materials such as gallium arsenide.

With market penetration exceeding expectations in 2018, bifacial technology is set to account for one third of global solar module production by 2022, writes Edurne Zoco, Research Director at IHS Markit. Bifacial and half-cell technologies are rapidly gaining momentum due to their improvements in power output, along with their low implementation barriers and minimal capex requirements

Each shift in Chinese PV policy is watched by the solar world. And the reforms unveiled in late April and early May have left many scrambling to catch up. While they may rein in unbridled growth, the changes are leaning towards a future of further cost reductions, particularly soft costs, and the golden goal of grid parity PV.

The ambitious climate, jobs and social program has encountered strong resistance from some national unions, and not only those connected to professions linked to traditional power industries.

To be commissioned in 2022, the giant solar plant will be built on a 1,300-hectare surface in the municipal areas of Torrecillas de la Tiesa and Aldeacentenera, near Caceres, in the Spanish southern region of Extremadura.

The buyer has not disclosed how much it invested in the subsidiary of German EPC contractor Juwi, which is building four PV power plants with 250 MW of total generation capacity under the nation’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Program.

There was plenty of innovation on display at this year’s SNEC, which closed yesterday afternoon at the Shanghai New International Expo Center. The three-day exhibition ran from Tuesday to Thursday, was well attended and still ranks as the world’s largest solar energy trade show.

German customs officers executed two arrest warrants during the Smarter E show in Munich. The public prosecutor’s office in Nuremberg-Fürth also confirmed another arrest, connected to an existing investigation of a Chinese PV manufacturer. The arrested executives were allegedly involved in commercial smuggling of solar modules, the customs authorities and prosecutor told pv magazine. The authorities believe minimum import prices for crystalline solar modules from China, in effect until September, were circumvented and millions of euros in payments were evaded.

In the petition, the manufacturers claim their Korean rival’s patent assertions should be declared invalid as there is evidence the innovations they refer to were either not new or were obvious steps forward.