Germany

Tariffs ranged from €0.0470 to €0.0620 as the solar power price rose from the last national procurement round, which settled at €0.0459-0.0520 in October for an average €0.0490/kWh. Some 501 MW of generation capacity was allocated in the latest exercise.

The German PV equipment provider has agreed to supply manufacturing equipment for CIGS thin-film solar panels to the CNBM Bengbu Design and Research Institute for Glass Industry, a subsidiary of cement producer China National Building Material.

Calyxo, a German cadmium telluride solar module manufacturer, has filed for insolvency for the second time, despite the recent emergence of new prospective investors. Meanwhile, Crystalsol – an Austrian flexible solar panel maker – has also initiated insolvency proceedings, due to losses of roughly €7 million.

The French non-governmental organization, which provides solar kits to refugee camps and disaster affected communities, won the energy category of the 12th Zayed Sustainability Prize. The award will bank Electriciens sans frontières $600,000.

Insolvency proceedings have been under way for the separate Solibro GmbH division since late summer and business operations have long been suspended there. With Chinese thin-film manufacturer Hanergy having told pv magazine it pulled out of that business in 2015 – despite apparent evidence to the contrary – this week another Hanergy subsidiary, Solibro Hi-Tech, declared insolvency.

IHS Markit has predicted another year of global solar growth but a peek behind the headline figures shows uncertainty dogging the markets of China and India, two of the most important markets and biggest polluters.

Researchers at the American Institute of Physics have used the clear-sky irradiance model developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to measure the degradation rates of solar panels at a testing field in Germany over five years. The scientists say the model, when combined with real-world data, offers an efficient tool to evaluate the aging of PV technology.

As Germany shuttered another of its nuclear power plants on New Year’s Day, the office of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi was said to be considering a proposal which would make coal more competitive with renewables in one of the world’s worst polluting nations.

By this time next year we may be able to wave goodbye to that old chestnut about renewables endangering security of supply. Elsewhere, the price of lithium – and the products it goes into – could go either way after tanking this year.

Battery innovations started to come thick and fast this quarter as the hunt for alternatives to lithium-ion intensified and the latest slew of solar tenders indicated the relentless pressure on solar power generation costs was showing no sign of abating.