Covid-19 Pandemic

A total of 6 Covid-19 positives have just been detected among workers at the Solara4 plant, located in the Portuguese Algarve. According to information obtained by pv magazine, work at the facility has been partially stopped.

Asier Ukar, director of the Spanish unit of German technical advisory PI Berlin, tells pv magazine about his experiences of conducting quality control inspections in Chinese factories during the global pandemic.

The move has been brought in by the National Energy Control Center which claims it is necessary to safeguard energy security during the Covid-19 public health crisis. Critics say the authorities are using the pandemic as an excuse to extend a pattern of action against the renewables industry.

Central Electronics, India’s first silicon PV manufacturer, is drawing on its technical expertise to ramp up production of ICU ventilators, as part of the country’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. It has invited global bids from ventilator manufacturers to collaborate with on production.

Installations are set to fall in India’s rooftop PV sector, even after the current coronavirus lockdown is lifted, as consumers will continue to grapple with financial constraints, according to a newly published research report.

Even as global PV forecasts fall, tax equity dries up and unemployment rises, investor Jim Spano believes the right type of government stimulus could not only help the solar industry recover – but drive it to new heights.

The Global Solar Council has launched a survey to assess the impact of the Covid-19 emergency and understand potential outcomes for the global solar energy sector.

As Chinese PV manufacturers are now on the way to fully utilizing their production capacities, it is becoming increasingly clear how much coronavirus containment measures will affect global demand. Wood Mackenzie expects a decline in residential PV demand and a shift in investment to commercial projects, which is why it now only expects 106 GW of capacity additions this year.

The clarification came after states across the country reacted to the power ministry’s recent call for a moratorium on conventional power payments by stopping payments and curtailing renewable power.

In a recent chat with pv magazine, Jason Tundermann – vice president of business development at U.S. trading advisory service LevelTen Energy – predicted a better-than-expected scenario for corporate clean-energy PPAs on the Old Continent. He said the net value of long-term PPA offers has not dropped dramatically, offering hope to corporate buyers.