Middle East

To date, 50 MW of net-metered solar power arrays have been connected to the grid in the Emirates. One of the latest is a 2 MW PV carport at the headquarters of the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) and at the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE) building.

As the lira’s troubles continued to weigh on the markets today, it remained unclear how the country’s solar market will be affected. While the plunging currency fosters uncertainty – public enemy number one for investors – it could also create conditions for lower system costs and cheaper PV projects. Nevertheless, a serious slow-down for 2018 must be considered.

As pv magazine has learnt, the Saudi energy giant lowered its offer to $0.02752/kWh at the last minute, beating the bid lodged by Spain’s Fotowatio, which offered $0.02791 per kWh.

The solar system may be only 0.5 MW in scale but will help the supply of freshwater to 250,000 people within 18 months and further desalination-linked schemes are in the pipeline.

Turkey has tendered 600 MW of PV capacity, very little of which has been installed to date. A new 30 MW solar PV project, however, is currently under construction.

The company has experienced continued growth and after the acquisition of a UPS supplier – as well the potential for Chinese power electronics manufacturers to suffer under proposed new inverter tariffs – SolarEdge feels confident of continued growth.

The Zahid Group has invested an undisclosed amount in Germany-based Greencells. A key focus for the latter will now be hybrid systems in the APAC and African regions. An update on the 1.2 GW Sweihan solar project in Abu Dhabi was also given.

High-efficiency module manufacturer, Panasonic announced it had completed what it says is the world’s largest project using its HIT solar modules, in Turkey.

Following the claim filed in June, SolarEdge now alleges Huawei has infringed two more of its patents. With its HD-wave inverter topology the subject of the first lawsuit, the Israeli manufacturer now says its Chinese rival also copied its power optimizer technology.

Turkish EPC and module manufacturer, Smart Energy highlighted the importance of high-quality products and the perks of operating a giga-fab right at the gates of Europe to pv magazine at this year’s Intersolar Europe.