Colombian oil giant Ecopetrol goes solar with 10 MW project
The state-owned oil company has decided to power one of its fields with a solar park. The tender for the project will be launched in the fourth quarter. A renewable energy plant portfolio of around 140 MW may be built by Ecopetrol.
The weekend read: Cells of the future
For solar to survive in a world without feed-in tariffs, further innovation focused on cost reduction is necessary. In this white paper, scientists from Swiss equipment supplier Meyer Burger argue that high efficiency cell concepts, and in particular heterojunction, will be among the best technologies solar can bet on to achieve this.
PV InfoLink publishes H1 2018 global PV cell/module shipment ranking
PV InfoLink has released its latest solar PV module shipment ranking for H1 2018. Chinese manufacturers continue to dominate the market, while monocrystalline module shipments increased sharply. Overall, it forecasts total PV demand of 83 GW in 2018.
India’s cumulative grid connected solar capacity reaches 22 GW
According to the latest figures from the MNRE, cumulative grid-connected ground-mounted solar PV capacity has reached 22 GW in India, with 1.3 GW connected between this April to July. Module prices, meanwhile, are said to have come down “considerably”.
Australia’s 125 MW Sun Metals refinery solar farm officially opens
The 125 MW solar PV plant, which will supply the power-intensive zinc refinery near Townsville, is Australia’s largest operational industrial solar project.
EU authorizes Denmark’s scheme for mixed wind-solar auctions
The budget for the first auctions of this kind, for the period 2018-2019, is around €112 million. They are part of Denmark’s new energy strategy, dubbed “Energy for a green Denmark.”
Solar cell prices decline in reaction to safeguard duties, impending MIP decision
“Significant” price movements in solar PV cells has been observed this week, in reaction to India’s safeguard duties, and the impending MIP decision, says EnergyTrend. Module, wafer and polysilicon prices, however, remain stable. In contrast, prices for li-ion batteries are set to increase by as much as 15% in Q3.
PV Crystalox receives €28 million in compensation
The British wafer manufacturer has reached a settlement agreement on unfulfilled long-term wafer supply contracts with a customer. The unnamed manufacturer has to pay €28.8 million to PV Crystalox.
Italian region of Lombardia allocates another €3 million for solar+storage
After earmarking €4 million last year, Italy’s most dynamic and affleunt region is further supporting solar+storage installations through a rebate scheme.
Brazil’s PV capacity tops 1.6 GW
At the end of June 2018, according to official statistics, large-scale solar capacity reached 1,307 MW, while the share of distributed PV generation (up to 5 MW), was 296 MW. Of the total capacity, 1.36 GW was connected to the grid in the last 12 months.
