Foresight Solar Fund completes acquisition of 114 MW UK portfolio
U.K. investor the Foresight Solar Fund today announced the acquisition of a portfolio of operational PV projects, following a placement of new shares in June which raised around £48.1 million.
Albania tenders 50 MW of solar
Through the auction, the authorities in Tirana aim to build a solar park in the Akërni salt flats, near Vlorë.
Enel and Raptor Maps to develop AI drone software for operations and maintenance applications
Enel Green Power North America and Raptor Maps will develop AI-based drones to reduce O&M costs. Kicking off this month, the project will see its first batch of 30 field workers trained by the end of the year. Both companies already have the relevant technology in their portfolios.
Fitch revises up outlook for French solar market
The U.S. firm expects France will reach a cumulative capacity of 28 GW by 2027, 3 GW more than previously forecast. The reasons for the increase are the renewed efforts of the French government to push for more solar, and the solar plans of big energy players such as EDF and Total.
ERG keeps investing in solar
The Italian wind energy specialist has joined forces with UK-based investment firm Quercus Investment Partners LLP to acquire another 150 MW of PV plants in Italy.
Taiwan: Schedule agreed for three-way solar merger
A timetable has been set for the merger of three of Taiwan’s largest solar cell manufacturers, according to reports from the state-owned Central News Agency. The companies held separate board meetings last week and confirmed the transaction is set to be completed on October 1.
Facebook likes clean energy as corporate purchasing sets record
The social media titan is the world’s biggest corporate buyer of renewable energy so far this year. BNEF figures show the company has already secured 1.1 GW of green power this year, helping the corporate world break last year’s landmark.
Deadline extension in Tunisian PV tender
Developers have been given an extra two months for bids adding up to 70 MW of new capacity. With no FIT scheme, bidders compete to offer the most attractively priced 20-year PPA level.
The weekend read: More strings to the bow
New developments in inverter architecture suggest that string inverters have charged forwards again to take on the challenge and kick central inverters off the throne in the utility-scale market. Hardware design innovations allowing to cut down BoS capex and improve efficiency of the plants might push string inverters further to take more space in the utility-scale market place.
Huawei cites IP track record in response to SolarEdge complaint
Huawei spoke to pv magazine in response to the latest allegations made by SolarEdge regarding the latter’s allegedly infringed intellectual property. Huawei is adamant it is one of the world’s largest owners of intellectual property rights and fully supports the protection of IP. The Chinese manufacturer denies the claims made by SolarEdge and points to its extensive IP and research and development (R&D) efforts to support its defense.
