China’s Sunpower Group closes supply deal with Xinjiang Xinte
The $16.4 million contract relates to the supply of raw material towers and cold-hydraulic heat exchangers for an upgrade project by the Chinese polysilicon manufacturer.
MW-sized solar parks proliferate in Sweden
Swedish power distributor Göteborg Energi is planning to deploy two PV plants totaling 6 MW while initiatives for solar parks above 1 MW are being implemented in several regions.
Industry urges EU to boost self-consumption
After EU Parliament, Council and Commission each reached their respective position on the future of renewable energies in the EU until 2030, at the end of last year, representatives of the three bodies have commenced negotiations to find a EU wide position to be implemented as soon as possible. The renewable energy directive is expected to be ready for inking during this summer.
Eneco finalizes 48 MW storage project in Germany
Construction on the facility was started eight months ago. In the future, the large-scale lithium-ion storage facility may participate in weekly auctions for primary reserve capacity.
Official statistics illustrate UK solar market’s sluggish growth
Despite a remarkable cumulative PV capacity of over 12.8 GW, newly registered PV systems in the first four months of this year amounted to a disappointing 72 MW. The U.K. Solar Trade Association does not expect the current poor growth trend to improve unless the government provides more regulatory certainty.
Greenbriar Capital secures financing for 100 MW of solar in Puerto Rico
The project is part of a 280 MW pipeline the Caribbean island is hoping to build in its effort to restore a safe and stable power supply to the population.
Neoen begins work on 51 MW PV project in Jamaica
A loan of $64 million was awarded by French development bank Proparco and Dutch peer FMO. The facility will deliver electricity to the Jamaica Public Service Company Limited at a price of $85/MWh over 20 years.
Solar grew by 225 MW in Germany in April
Demand for rooftop solar continues to be high as only around 26.5 MW of additional capacity in April came from ground-mounted PV. FITs for installations up to 750 kW in size will remain flat in June.
Fraunhofer ISE launches grid-stabilizing high-voltage inverter
The new inverter was developed in the HV-SiC project under the Future Electricity Grids funding program financed by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The inverter can regulate power currents of up to 10-15 kV more than ten times higher than regular silicon inverters. Fraunhofer says this makes new system architectures for power grids and plants conceivable.
Ivory Coast moves forward with first solar park
The 25 MW project is planned for the town of Benguébougou, in the Korhogo department, in the north of the west African nation.
