Western Europe

ANIE Rinnovabili, the country’s solar PV sector voice, is weighing actions against the feed-in tariff (FIT) cuts recently imposed to existing photovoltaic installations. Tariff reductions were absolutely unnecessary, the energy association says.

pv magazine’s Ilias Tsagas argues that should Scotland’s population vote today in favor of independence, this will not hurt its renewable energy sector but might give it a further boost.

Italy has raised the upper limit for net metering in the country from 200 kW to 500 kW per installation. The measure is set to boost the commercial rooftop PV sector.

Solar boat MS Turanor PlanetSolar has become a research vessel for archaeological expeditions in Greece. The catamaran completed a round-the-world trip in 2012 powered only by sun.

Chinese premier Li Keqiang’s three-day visit to Athens coincided with trade agreements that could be worth up to $8.8bn for Greece’s beleaguered economy. Investments in Piraeus port and the Greek railway network could be followed by Chinese PV fabs on Greek soil.

The solar asset manager expects to double its operational capacity in the U.K. in the next twelve months to some 200 MW. It’s latest acquisition includes the 37 MW Kencot, Oxfordshire, PV farm.

MPs to vote on amended PV bill over the weekend as Greek solar agencies squabble over industry’s future.

Greece’s Environment Ministry is set to introduce new measures in the hopes of reaching a long-term solution, including FIT cuts and loan extensions. Consumers, however, face still more RES fee hikes.

While small FIT-supported projects have driven the British photovoltaic market, 2013 has seen an increasing amount of large-scale capacity as the government weighs green tax reductions while embracing nuclear power.