World

Commercial mini-grids: To provide electricity access for all by 2030, the International Energy Agency estimates mini-grids will provide power to one-third of the 1.1 billion people without electricity. Powering equipment that can generate income for rural villagers is hailed as one of the most important ways of enhancing rural mini-grid bankability. Rural mini-grid companies today are working with communities to understand what income-generating equipment, called productive uses of electricity, can make viable businesses.

GTM Research projects US$24 cent/w solar panels and utility scale fixed-tilt systems at US$70 cent/W by 2022, which opens up new possibilities for ultra-cheap power from solar.

The Chinese giant wants to increase polysilicon production by 70,000 MT in two phases after construction work began at the start of this month

With the percentage of renewables in the global energy mix increasing, and global energy demand projected to increase by 30% over the next two decades, energy storage is more important now than ever. But what are the main technologies for energy storage, and how will these technologies affect global energy? Gabriel Hurtado González, Energy Solutions Manager at Mitie, and Sasaenia Paul Oluwabunmi, Operations Officer at the OPEC Fund for International Development answer this pertinent question.

The World Energy Council tracks the top concerns of energy leaders and has created a tool with Arup to display its findings. The rise of digitalization issues and the decreasing significance of fossil fuels indicates a strong renewables market ahead and energy start ups are receiving increasing attention from utilities and leaders

The world’s first digital, autonomous, closed-end, utility-scale PV project investment fund – enabling people with any budget to become co-owners of projects – has announced the implementation of its first arrays, in Kazakhstan, with 4 MW in the north-west of the country and 4 MW in the south. Solar DAO says it will save about $50,000 per MW since total development costs will be less than $5,000 per MW.

Price deflation and technological innovation are helping solar transform the global electricity sector. A new report by IEEFA highlights the latest solar milestones around the world and charts important trends including the rise of floating solar and the corporate PPAs helping the tech giants ‘green’ their energy-hungry data centres.

Several scientist have joined to rebut an Australian article that questions the feasibility of a global energy transition. For this purpose, they have gathered hundreds of studies on energy systems and conclude, that there are neither fundamental technical nor financial barriers to achieve 100% renewable energy supply.

PV inverter shipment volumes have gone up recently, but an increasingly competitive market has seen declining prices, forcing manufacturers to think out of the box to find new business applications for their products.

Unlike traditional power generation, wind and solar require zero, or a mimimum amount of, water for the operations of their respective technologies. This may help most Middle Eastern and North African countries solve their chronich water supply issues, as well as several more African, Asian, American and European countries.