Uni Newcastle team tests “printed solar” panels in Australian first
Just days after Tesla announced it was taking orders – and down-payments – for its much-hyped and quite good looking solar roof, an Australian made printed solar innovation that could rival Elon Musk’s power generating tiles has moved one major step closer to commercialisation.
Panasonic’s 2016 profit falls 9.6% as solar sales sag
The Japanese electronics group posted a net profit attributable to shareholders of JPY 149.4 billion ($1.3 billion) in the fiscal year to the end of March — from JPY 165.2 billion a year earlier — as declining sales of solar panels in Japan eroded its earnings. The group’s net sales fell more than 3% on the year to JPY 7343.7 billion, although its operating profit rose to JPY 276.8 billion, from just JPY 230.3 billion a year earlier.
SolarWorld Americas maintains full operation
The U.S. subsidiary of the German manufacturer maintains full operations at its facility in Hillsboro, Oregon, although its parent company and its German units filed for insolvency last week.
Nepal seeks to improve power network for 25 MW of grid-connected solar
The Nepal Electricity Authority has issued a tender to select consultants for the implementation of the Nepal Grid Solar and Energy Efficiency Project. The initiative is aimed at reducing distribution losses in pilot distribution centers, and enabling the grid-connection of large-scale solar.
Luxembourg bets on solar: additional 2.4 GW planned by 2050
The new energy strategy of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg aims to increase the share of renewables in its energy mix from around 6% currently to 70% by 2050. About 4.8 GW of new renewable energy power generation capacity is expected to be installed in order to reach this target, and to reduce dependence from power imports.
PVA TePla returns to profitability in Q1
Q1 sales increased by 37% compared to a year earlier. The company also posted a positive Ebit for the first time in five years.
Ukrainian government reports growing interest for solar under net metering
Around 3.4 MW of PV systems were installed in Ukraine under its net metering scheme in the first quarter of this year. The scheme was introduced by the Ukrainian government in 2015.
China key to growth of green bond market in 2016
Global issuance soared 60% year on year to $113 billion in 2016, with Chinese and Indian banks playing a critical role in driving growth by issuing debt securities to back the development of PV projects and other climate-related initiatives, Fitch Ratings said in a recent report. The total value of outstanding green bonds had reached $280 billion by the end of March 2017.
Cyprus sees share of large-scale solar rise
A 1.5 MW project financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development was commissioned in Nisou. The plant is one of five MW-sized solar projects supported by EBRD in Cyprus.
Atomic scale design could pave the way to more persistent solar cells, study says
Researchers from ICL claim to have discovered the cause for the rapid decrease in performance of perovskites. Adding iodide ions may help improve the stability of solar cells.
