Coronavirus

Clean energy electricity generation surpassed that from nuclear and fossil fuels for the sixth successive quarter in the July-to-September window, according to data analyst Enappsys, but Europe saw a fall in solar output and demand patterns at the end of the window may presage a second wave of Covid-19.

The advance of PV has been lauded by the International Energy Agency as it launched the latest edition of a flagship World Energy Outlook 2020 report overshadowed by the Covid-19 crisis and uncertainty over how long the economic recovery could take.

Rajendra Khandalkar, group head of supply chain management at India-based infrastructure engineering, procurement and construction services company Sterling and Wilson, has spoken to pv magazine India about learning from the Covid-19 crisis and the importance of smart supplier management to bolster company resilience.

With a previous 50-50 split between equity and debt investment funding for the off-grid market lurching to 84% borrowing, and commentators stating most of this year’s backing was agreed before the onset of Covid-19, fears are mounting about the prospects for the sector.

Project delays and price changes due to fluctuating demand are disrupting the Chinese solar market. Researchers who have analyzed the situation claim that the nation’s PV industry will be back on track toward grid parity by the end of the year.

A report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis says there is plenty of investment capital available for Indian renewables, despite pandemic disruption.

The poly manufacturer discussed the impact of Covid-19 on its solar and wind project development business and fleshed out details of global polysilicon oversupply during a pandemic-hit first half of the year.

Clean energy power plants will figure prominently as Queensland and Victoria bid to reset their economies for a post-coronavirus world. France suffered a hit to its new solar deployment figures in the first half of a Covid-hit year but its neighbor appears to have no such concerns.

Some 81% of the everyday folk asked how the U.K. should realize its net zero 2050 ambition said solar should be part of the mix and views were also aired on electric and hydrogen transport, home heating and how to incentivize companies to embrace a circular manufacturing model.

KilowattSol CEO Xavier Daval has criticized the absence of references to solar in the French government’s post-Covid recovery plan, which has allocated €30 billion to the energy transition. The head of the PV technical advisory says solar must become more central to France’s strategic choices and China must not be allowed to retain its near-monopoly on PV panel manufacturing.