household solar

Donations of cash and solar equipment have thrown a lifeline to schools, hospitals, and communities in Ukraine but the country needs much more, including long-term backing for the recovery of its industry, reports Ian Skarytovsky.

The European solar landscape changed forever in 2022 and managing the supply chain, grid, and permitting constraints will be key to a solar-dominated energy future for the continent.

Japanese policymakers are now looking at rooftop solar panels as land is scarce in the country and agrivoltaics, building-integrated PV (BIPV), and floating solar are still in their infancy, reports Mark Hutchins.

With polysilicon production capacity having been rapidly rolled out after last year’s shortages, China analyst Frank Haugwitz has suggested global manufacturing capability for the ethylene vinyl acetate used on PV panels could struggle to keep pace with what is expected to be another record year of demand for solar.

Data company IHS Markit expects almost nine out of ten big solar projects in the Americas over the next three years to be tracker mounted. More than a terrawatt of new solar will be added from this year to the end of 2025, the analyst predicted.

The raised ambition of an already huge renewables-powered hydrogen project in the Southern African nations vividly demonstrates the hydrogen and clean energy potential of a continent which accounted for just 0.5% of the world’s new solar capacity last year, according to trade body AFSIA’s annual report.

One of the schemes is linked to household and commercial electricity customers who want to install a PV array to charge electric vehicles.

The Euro trade body has promised to monitor the developing solar jobs market annually from now on, and pointed to Poland’s position at the top of the tree of EU member states for PV jobs last year as evidence the technology can still benefit from legislative backing.

The move will encourage private sector renewables companies to be part of the national energy industry, a representative of the regulator told a recent webinar which considered how to accelerate clean energy roll-out in Africa.

A rapid ramping up of deployment would have little impact on the electricity price during summer, when air conditioning drives demand to its annual peak in the Canadian province, but it would bring hefty savings on the annual gas generation bill, even before carbon levies are factored in.