C&I solar

The government is being helped by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development as it designs a new net metering system. The country already supports large scale PV plants and small solar parks.

Fire safety engineering researchers have demonstrated increasing the gap between the modules of commercial PV arrays and flat roof surfaces is a decisive factor in reducing fire risks. Experiments have identified a critical gap height below which flame spread rate increases significantly.

The government has abrogated a controversial measure introduced last year which favored big developers in the allocation of fiscal incentives for rooftop projects linked to building renovation.

The South Korean capital has unveiled a plan to deploy rooftop PV on a million homes and all public buildings. The new initiative is designed to bring the city’s cumulative installed solar capacity to around 1 GW by the end of 2022.

The telecommunications company opened a large data center near the Turkish capital. Turkcell said it wants to improve data security by storing more information on Turkish soil.

The affordable public financing packages on offer for solar rooftops are attracting developers who have clients happy to lease out roofspace without any capital outlay in order to secure cheaper power.

The final average price for power generated by solar systems with a capacity of 100-500 kW came in at €97.48/MWh. The price for 500 kW-8 MW installations was €86.54/MWh. Only the latter category saw a fall in price compared to the previous commercial solar tender.

Turkey introduced net metering in May, stoking hopes the scheme could add meaningful volumes of new solar generation capacity. Municipal governments elected in the spring can also boost the program’s success, provided the many layers of authority can work together, that is.

The French renewables group has taken over a specialist in C&I rooftop solar and launched a share purchase offer to enable its employees to benefit from the growth of the company.

The authorities expect to add 300 MW of rooftop solar in the next four years thanks to net metering regulations and hope the nation’s extensive clothing and textile industry will be encouraged to adopt PV.