Europe

The Spanish developer’s operating revenues reached €12.5 million in the first quarter of 2019, up roughly 35% from the preceding three-month period. EBITDA stood at €4.5 million, up 14% from the fourth quarter of 2018, suggesting that the company has been moving from strength to strength since listing its shares in December.

While China is resetting its policy framework, other regions are gaining more importance on the global PV market. The Intersolar Europe conference in Munich focused on Europe and the Middle East as growth drivers.

The U.S.-based company, which is now supplying solar trackers for more than 400 MW of contracted projects in the U.K., Spain and Greece, will bolster its sales presence in Europe, where it anticipates a “solar renaissance.”

Welcome to Day 1 of Intersolar Europe 2019! Follow pv magazine live to keep updated on the latest solar PV and storage developments, events and trends from this year’s event, as they happen. Today’s highlights include the launch of our new sustainability campaign, UP; the unveiling of the newest addition to the pv magazine family, pv magazine France; moderation of the launch of both Longi’s and JinkoSolar’s latest modules; and the Intersolar award finalists. Stay tuned!

It remains Europe’s biggest solar and energy storage event, and with a resurgent market, The smarter E in 2019 is shaping to be no different. Accordingly, pv magazine is rolling out a full program of events and launches, and of course is inviting you to party with us.

The European solar trade body expects 128 GW of new PV capacity in 2019, with China likely to bring around 43 GW online and Europe experiencing enough demand to deploy about 20.4 GW. In 2020, global solar demand is expected to reach 144 GW, while in the following three years new PV additions are forecast to total 158 GW, 169 GW and 180 GW, respectively.

Moixa has wrapped up an £8.6 million funding round led by Honda. The U.K. smart battery specialist will use the funds to finance the global expansion of its business managing residential battery systems, electric vehicles and smart charging facilities, as well as the aggregation of battery capacity for grid services.

The sustainable projects lender wants to become a pioneer in the financing of unsubsidized PV ground mounted systems. The loans have a term of 25 years and operators need a PPA with at least five years’ maturity at a fixed price.

Scientists seeking the next generation of highly efficient PV devices have found inspiration in nature. Researchers from the U.K.’s University of Birmingham and the University of Utrecht, in the Netherlands, examined the light harvesting mechanisms in ocean microalgae that are said to be up to 95% efficient.

For installations with a generation capacity of less than 10 kW, the feed-in tariff will rise 36% to €0.165/kWh and all installations below 500 kW are set to benefit from an improved regulatory framework.