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A viral outbreak in the city of Wuhan, in China’s Hubei province, has become a nationwide health crisis with global implications. And with PV manufacturing concentrated in China, there are serious implications for all corners of the solar world, reports Vincent Shaw in Shanghai.

The Carbon Tracker Initiative crunched some numbers and discovered that more than half a trillion dollars worth of coal investments are at serious risk due to the declining cost of renewables.

Many solar factories in China are starting to resume production, suggesting that concerns about supplies of PV components could soon begin to ease. Nevertheless, the temporary standstill will have an impact on the global solar market, as the implementation of some projects will probably be postponed until next year.

The Chinese manufacturer shipped 14.3 GW of PV modules last year, up 2.9 GW from 2018. In its 2020 outlook, it reiterated its initial shipment guidance and confirmed its plans to ramp up capacity.

Total is building a 25 MW/25 MWh lithium-ion storage system in Mardyck, northern France. The oil giant plans to commission the facility by the end of the year.

The country’s cumulative installed PV capacity reached 1.6 GW at the end of February, according to the national grid operator.

Dutch scientists are producing mesoporous titanium dioxide thin films at room temperature by using the papain enzyme in a dip‐coating procedure. This fully organic process could facilitate the development of cheaper, more efficient dye‐sensitized solar cells.

An Italian startup has developed a luminescent solar concentrator technology that can be integrated with active architectural elements and windows. The technology is based on nanoparticles known as chromophores, which decouple the absorption and light-emission processes, thanks to appropriate engineering. The company claims it has achieved a conversion efficiency of up to 3.2%, with a degree of transparency in the visible spectrum of around 80%.

South Korean scientists have produced an organic, hybrid-series tandem PV device that combines quantum dots and organic bulk heterojunction photoactive materials. They claim that the cell has the highest efficiency among all reported colloidal quantum dot cells, including single-junction devices and tandem devices.

Chinese PV heavyweight Canadian Solar has announced an offtake deal for its Gunnedah solar project with e-commerce giant Amazon in the Australian state of New South Wales. The e-commerce giant also plans to build a 50 MW solar plant near Zaragoza, in eastern Spain.