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As the contagion continues to spread, its impact is beginning to be felt on the solar industry outside China with the cancellation or postponement of major trade shows and conferences that were set to take place over the next few weeks.

The thin-film cell was manufactured through a low-temperature process and doping with alkali elements.

Spanish gas provider Enagás has signed an agreement with Ampere Energy for the joint development of several hydrogen production R&D projects with PV and storage. The first installation will be deployed at a gas plant in Cartagena, in the southern Spanish region of Murcia.

The cumulative capacity of subsidized PV systems in Germany reached 49,425 MW at the end of January. Under the nation’s triggered FIT reduction regime the tariff – and income from electricity sold directly to off-takers – will fall 1.4% this month.

The 15-year payments will come into force when new renewables FITs are published in the country’s official journal within the next few days. The government wants to allocate 15 MW of solar facilities ranging in size from 10 kW to 1 MW through the scheme, with larger projects having to compete in auctions.

The proposed acquisition by state-owned China Huaneng of 294 MW of GCL project capacity in China has been delayed a second time.

Italian inverter maker Fimer has completed its purchase of ABB’s manufacturing and R&D sites in Finland, India and Italy, along with 800 employees in 26 countries. Fimer said the combined business will ship more than 7 GW of inverters this year.

The government has suggested PV plant operators accept a ‘voluntary’ 12.5% reduction in feed-in tariffs. If developers refuse, policymakers could impose 15-25% cuts, albeit with payment contracts extended five years. The drastic measures are being considered to reduce the cost of the state-owned Guaranteed Buyer body, which purchases all electricity generated in Ukraine from renewable energy facilities.

In just three years, Northvolt has progressed from a startup to become Europe’s response to the Asian dominance of global battery manufacturing. pv magazine investigates why Northvolt is setting up units in Sweden, Germany, and Poland, what the firm’s goals are, and how it is attempting to achieve them.

The annual trade show was not particularly well-attended this year, but market sentiment is still positive in Japan – nobody believes that installations will drop due to the coronavirus outbreak. And the country’s upstream industry – modules, batteries, and hydrogen tech – clearly remains compelling, given the number of brave souls who actually did make the trip out to Tokyo Big Sight this year.