Asia

The coronavirus epidemic continues to batter the global economy, including the solar industry, but falling demand during lockdowns has brought negative energy prices as well as helping drive record solar generation, amid less-polluted skies.

The ten largest solar tracker companies accounted for 88% of the market last year, according to analyst WoodMackenzie, with the market growing 20% from 2018.

The installation will be located in the Changbin Lunwei East district. A NT$7.2 billion loan was secured from a consortium of seven banks and the solar facility is expected to be grid-connected this year.

A rebranded Singyes Solar was able to stave off a debt default meltdown last year thanks to a $200 million cash injection from the state but the turnaround appears to have come at a hefty cost in longer-term borrowings and employees.

Indian scientists have developed a low-cost electrocatalyst based on iron, manganese and N-doped carbon derived from fish gills (Fe/Mn/N-FGC) to increase the performance of a homemade rechargeable zinc-air battery. The Fe/Mn/N-FGC cathode-based battery achieved open-circuit voltage of 1.41 V and a large power density of 220 mW/cm2 at 260 mA/cm2 current density – compared to 1.40 V and 158 mW/cm2 for a commercial platinum/carbon-based battery – with almost stable charge-discharge voltage plateaus at high current density.

Solar project owners responded to an appeal to donate a portion of their solar incentive payments to the public health authorities as another multinational body emphasized the importance of coronavirus fiscal stimulus packages having environmentally-friendly conditions attached.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is working on the creation of a Rs 10,000 crore (US$1.3 billion) alternative investment fund to provide payments to PV developers.

A 120 MW solar plant located in a fishery near Cixi, in the Chinese province of Zhejiang, was recently completed. The plant, which has secured a tariff of RMB0.95 ($0.12)/kWh, is the second phase of a 320 MW project owned by Chinese developer Hangzhou Fengling.

Taiwanese manufacturer Heliartec Solutions is offering BIPV panels for building facades that can be designed to mimic different kinds of textures in conventional building materials. The panels can also work as colored laminated safety glass and replace traditional cladding in the ventilated facades of buildings. They vary in length from 60 cm to 240 cm, with widths ranging from 30 cm to 120 cm. Depending on their size, the panels can offer power outputs of 90 W to 150 W per square meter.  

The Chinese solar manufacturer has finally addressed lingering uncertainty about its future with the release of the audited version of its 2019 financial results.