Carbon-neutrality

Energy storage is the new solar for an increasing number of Chinese PV manufacturers. However, China still requires enabling policies for storage to provide the end-market volumes needed to bolster the fortunes of manufacturers old and new.

In the land of a thousand lakes and long, harsh winters, a surprising gold rush is under way – not for precious metals but for sunlight. Finland, often associated with its stunning natural landscapes, has become an unlikely contender in the global renewable energy market, particularly in the realm of solar power.

From zero to hero in 20 years, China’s PV industry has undergone an extraordinary journey. Vincent Shaw considers the reasons for the nation’s solar success and the challenges ahead.

Thin-film technologies have long promised to make a major impact on the solar industry but have largely been constrained to niche applications and research labs if they were not shredded by the market. After several false starts, current trade dynamics and promising research programs may help solar thin films find their place in the sun.

Chinese battery industry heavyweight CATL has unveiled a novel condensed matter battery technology with an energy density of up to 500 Wh/kg. The company said it can achieve mass production within this year.

The renewables industry fears that the new energy bill that the French government is preparing could make clean power generation even tougher. However, solar analyst Xavier Daval says that betting everything on the nation’s nuclear power fleet is a risky strategy.

Utility Nova Scotia Power wanted to impose a monthly charge on net-metered solar system owners which the Canadian Renewable Energy Association said could have doubled the payback period for household and commercial arrays.

The Indian Ocean island nation, which has been a prominent voice in the global calls to combat rising sea levels, will get technical assistance from the Asian Development Bank to draw up a tender for 20-30MW of photovoltaic generation capacity.

The Canadian Solar chief repeated his belief the trend of ever-cheaper solar panels has come to an end and revealed, at the online BNEF event, his company is set to launch a 700 W module.

Industrial shutdowns and reduced factory production capacity levels indicate the companies producing the raw materials used by solar manufacturers are being afflicted by electricity consumption measures just as other sectors are. It is not clear whether the solar industry will be afforded any favors by Beijing, as analyst Frank Haugwitz explains.