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The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a funding bill that extends the ITC through 2020, with a graduated decline afterwards. The bill now moves to the U.S. Senate.

Shortly after passage in the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate has passed an omnibus spending bill which includes extension of the 30% federal ITC. This was the final vote before the bill is signed by U.S. President Obama.

From COP21 and solar cop-outs to c-Si breakthroughs and the small matter of a possible, No, JUST CONFIRMED, extension of the U.S. ITC, it’s been a pretty quiet week in the world of solar PV.

The U.K. Government has set the new solar PV tariffs. Representing a partial victory, cuts will not be severe as anticipated – 64% instead of 87% for residential – however, fears are nearly 19,000 jobs could still be lost. Quarterly caps have also been imposed which, says STA, could be damaging. Solar can still be a “reasonable” investment, it concludes. The new rates will come into effect on February 8. Despite the limited success, harsh criticism has been aimed at the government, particularly in light of its decision to end ROCs and grandfathering.

Trina Solar Limited has announced it will split its downstream solar business in two, with one focused on China and one internationally. It aims to become a first tier global player in installing solar PV.

The Senyuan Group has begun construction work on a 1 GW solar PV plant in China’s Henan province. An investment of CNY 10 billion is required for the project. Overall, the company has overly-ambitious plans to install 9.5 GW in China.

Doyoung Int’l Renewable Energy Service Co., Ltd and Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd have signed a 500 MW solar PV inverter agreement. The two companies will also work together in joint development and manufacturing.

Off Grid Electric has secured US$45 million in investment to realize its aim of installing solar and battery storage in one million homes in Tanzania over the next three years.

Following the official announcement by the U.K. Government of the new FIT for renewables from 2016 onwards, there has been a backlash about the lack of support for ground-mounted systems. IHS tells pv magazine the sector is unviable post March, while it will be hard for solar to play a larger role in the country based on the changes. BNEF expects to see a Q1 2016 boom bigger than this year’s, and Lightsource is already planning large-scale projects sans subsidies.

The research firm’s initial forecast based on the potential extension of the ITC finds that the U.S. solar market will grow in 2017, and that this will prevent a 10% decline in the global solar market.